Heart Full of Tears
by Ghostunderasheet
Summary: When the Water Dragonslayer, Rio, shows up at Fairy Tail, possessed by her psychotic dark guild master of a mother, she creates strong bonds with the guild members, (especially a certain lightning dragonslayer). When she tries to take Rio back from the hated Fairy Tail, things quickly get out of hand and Rio has to decide who her true family is. Focused on family not romance. OC
1. Chapter 1

**-Master POV-**

I could sense a very dark and very obvious magic oozing out from my office. I sucked in a breath. I recognized that magic. Memories surfaced but I pushed them down. It was good to know that she'd survived, but to be using such magic… Why Fairy Tail of all places? Why now?

Whoever was behind my door, and whatever action they took, I had to be ready. I opened the door.

Instantly jumped back, narrowly avoiding the knife aimed for my chest. A young girl with blonde hair swore violently, dead-eyed, "Nimble old bastard, aren't you?"

"Magda," I said, my suspicions had been confirmed, "Why have you come back?"

"You will not take what's mine!" the girl hissed and came after me with the knife again. Fortunately, it appeared that Magda had not improved in hand to hand combat. I dodged again, this time jumping backwards, up onto the railing of the second floor. Her answer had made no sense, but now was not the time to consider that. If I could just find the catalyst…

There was a tight leather choker around the girl's neck. It had a glowing red stone in the front. Magda's magic was radiating off it in waves.

"Gramps, what's going on?" Laxus asked, apparently he had been leaning farther down on the railing when he'd noticed me jump. He couldn't see the girl from where he stood. Laxus's eyes widened a split second later, sensing the magic that was coming from the girl.

"Don't hurt her, just get the collar!" I ordered.

The girl lunged again, nearly hurtling herself over the railing as I dodged a third time. "You're too soft, old man. Who cares about this stupid girl?!"

* * *

**-Laxus POV-**

Gramps popped up on the railing next to me. He looked unusually serious. "Gramps, what's going on?" I asked. Then I noticed the dark magic rippling around the corner. Are we under attack?

"Don't hurt her, just get the collar!" Gramps barked at me.

I'll admit I was pretty confused. Why should I not attack someone if they were leaking that much dark magic just by being there? And what collar?

Gramps jumped back off the railing, into the guild just in time to avoid a knife. the blade embedded itself in the railing as a blonde haired girl surged forward, trying to snatch him. "You're too soft, old man," she snarled after him, "Who cares about this stupid girl?"

Without using my magic I pushed her over the edge. She flipped over the railing with a snarl and landed on the table below. "How dare you harm this body!" she shouted, when she looked up and identified me as the one who'd pushed her her scowl darkened. "Men! Of course you'd hurt an innocent!" she hissed angrily. "You'll pay for that! You'll all pay!"

She lunged at the nearest male, who happened to be Elfman. She actually managed to get him in a headlock, but probably only because he was so surprised. The headlock didn't do much. It was impossible for anyone as small as the girl was to properly immobilize anyone as large and muscled as Elfman.

-Evergreen POV-

I don't know who she was or what she was doing here or why she attacked Elfman, but that bitch was going down. The only one allowed to attack Elfman is me!

"Wait, what?" Elfman seemed confused. In retrospect, he was probably confused about the girl attacking him, but at the moment I thought he'd somehow heard me.

"I didn't mean it like that!" I shouted, leaving my seat to help him. "Get off of Elfman!" I ordered the blonde, trying to distract from my previous statement. The girl danced away from my attack which instead narrowly missed Elfman. She landed on another table, feet up turning plates and kicking over mugs as she went. I stood, ready for a fight, the rest of the Raijinshuu beside me.

"Don't hurt the girl!" Master ordered from where he'd landed by Team Natsu. "We just need to get the collar off!"

The girl laughed, "You think you can do that without hurting me? The pathetic Fairy Tail I remember won't be able to do shit against me!"

"What did you say about Fairy Tail?" Natsu demanded, rising to his feet, fists already flaming and getting ready to charge.

Just then Laxus jumped from the second floor landing just behind the blonde. Before she could turn to face him he snatched the thin strip of leather from her neck.

* * *

**-Lucy POV-**

Laxus managed to get a hand around the necklace and rip it off. The blonde girl collapsed instantaneously, apparently unconscious.

"Agh!" Natsu yelled, "You killed her!"

Happy wasn't helping, "Agh! Laxus is a murderer!" They both started panicking and running in circles.

"I didn't kill her, you moron I just-" Laxus's face went completely slack in the middle of his sentence. I noticed mildly he was still holding the necklace.

"Um, Laxus?" I asked. "Are you… okay?"

He didn't answer. Instead he punched Bixlow in the face hard enough to send him flying backwards. Bixlow of all people, a member of Fairy Tail one of the Raijinshuu at that.

Laxus's face twisted into a creepy grin, but he didn't seem to be enjoying himself. It looked as though someone was pulling the muscles in his face, like they were one strings. The thought did not make Laxus's smile any less creepy.

"What the hell Laxus?" Natsu demanded, stomping up to him. Apparently he'd forgotten about the older mage being a 'murderer'. "Why would your punch-?" Natsu's sentence was abruptly cut off as a fist went into his face. Natsu went flying backwards the same way Bixlow had. He collided with a wall and fell to the floor. "Laxus! Fight me!" he shouted. I had to resist the urge to facepalm at his stupidity. Doesn't he realize that Laxus has been possessed? I thought. Natsu charged forward, flaming fist raised. No. Apparently he does not.

Realizing what the problem was, I ran forward, shouting, "Grey! Toss me your shirt!"

"Why?" he demanded. Apparently he didn't see the genius in my plan.

"Since when do you need a reason to strip? Give me the damn shirt!" I ordered doing my best Erza impression. He gave me the shirt.

My plan- which was brilliant by the way- was to use the shirt to grab the necklace. That way I wouldn't touch it and (hopefully) wouldn't get possessed. My plan would have worked too, if it weren't for the fact that I was trying to charge Laxus. Before I could do anything he punched me in the gut and sent me flying backwards. I crashed into someone and lost consciousness. My last thought before I passed out was: Well that didn't work.

* * *

**-Erza POV-**

I quickly realized what Lucy's plan had been. It was likely that the necklace could only possess people through actual contact. That would explain Master's insistence not to hurt the girl, who was currently passed out on the floor, and to instead remove the necklace. I was suddenly glad to be wearing gauntlets.

During our exchange, I couldn't help but notice that Laxus's hand to hand combat abilities had decreased remarkably. I also surmised that whoever was possessing him couldn't use his magic or I would have been electrocuted by now.

Laxus let out an alarmingly feminine giggle. I have heard a lot of evil laughs over the years, but none of them were quite as creepy as the one currently coming from Laxus. I landed a weak blow to the chest and he actually stumbled back. On the real Laxus, he would have barely even felt that. "That's it red, you've lost your charm!" Laxus screeched in what was once again an disturbingly feminine voice. "I'll rip you to shreds!"

I decided that I was finished testing the fake-Laxus's limits. It was time to take this seriously. I kicked the fake-Laxus in the knee and he immediately started jumping on one foot. "Metal shoes are out of fashion!" he informed me loudly and quite aggressively. I took advantage of his distraction and grabbed his right hand, twisting it. He cried out and dropped the necklace.

Levy, who I hadn't noticed had been behind him, scrambled back to avoid being crushed as he fell. Unfortunately she tripped over the blonde girl's unconscious body.

* * *

**-Wendy POV-**

I might have had no idea what was going on, but once Erza had settled the matter I realized that there were two unconscious people lying in the middle of the guildhall. I ran over, starting with Laxus.

His heartbeat was steady and there appeared to be nothing physically wrong with him. Experimentally I pressed against his arm muscles. It felt like they'd somehow managed to tie themselves in knots. He'd be in a lot of pain when he woke up but he wasn't injured. "Somebody please move him to the infirmary," I requested. As Freed and Bixlow, who had apparently recovered from being face punched across the room, approached me I quickly reassured them, "There's nothing pressingly wrong with him."

My other patient, the mysterious blonde girl from before, wasn't in such good condition. Her ribs were cracked and she'd twisted her ankle. It was swollen and bruised to a painful looking purple-blue-black. There were bruises up and down her arms and legs. Her long blond hair reached down past her hips and was tangled. I noticed two blue streaks in it. She was short, taller than me but not by much, closest in height to Levy. Her eyes were closed and she looked pale. Her breathing was heavier than I would have liked.

I realized Lucy was kneeling next to me. "Help me flip her," I ordered, "I need to see her back." Pulling back her hoodie I saw it was covered with bruises too. I winced. "She's not in great shape," I muttered. "Someone help me move her. Put her in a bed next to Laxus."

"I go it," Gray said, picking her up and carrying her bridal style towards the infirmary.

"Master, I'll need to speak to you while I work," I said.

"Is there something wrong?" he asked, concerned.

I looked up at him. "You could say that."

"Wait, Wendy," Charle protested, "You're not seriously going to heal that girl are you? She attacked the guild! There's no need for you to tire yourself out on someone like that."

"But Charle-"

"That girl did nothing wrong and she's been injured," Erza said, cutting me off assertively. "We cannot turn our backs on someone in that condition." I realized that she must have seen the bruises. "Wendy, do what you can, but don't overwork yourself."

"I'll be fine," I promised, "I'm more worried about those two.

* * *

**-Master POV-**

Wendy had said that she had to talk to me. I could only assume that she had bad news about the girl. I couldn't help but wonder why Magda had chosen to attack now of all times. It had been seventeen years since I'd seen her. I had assumed something horrible had happened to her or she rand away. I wondered who the girl was and why Magda had chosen her to use, assuming that she had a reason. I had a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. That girl was in trouble, and Fairy Tail had already been dragged into it, whether we were prepared or not.


	2. Chapter 2

**-Wendy POV-**

"Master?" I said but it sounded more like a question. We were both standing next to the unconscious Laxus and the mysterious girl's bedsides.

"What is it Wendy?" he asked kindly.

"It's about that girl," I couldn't help but hesitate, "She's been injured a lot," I said, "and not by us." I took a shaky, nervous breath, "It happened over a long period of time and she wasn't given proper treatment. I really think-" I stopped. I didn't want to say it. I felt Charle put a comforting paw on my leg, but I didn't feel much better.

"Wendy, it's okay," the Master reassured me, "You can tell me."

I balled her hands into fists at my sides, taking a shaky but determined breath before continuing. "There are cuts up and down her arms, cigaret burns on her shoulders and scar tissue around her ankles." I took another deep breath, getting to the point. "I think- well I know really, that she's been abused badly and that it's been going on for a long time now."

The Master's face slowly darkened as I described the girl's condition.

"Master?" the I asked. He still hadn't responded.

"Don't mention this to anyone Wendy," he ordered, "I think that girl's been through enough without people pestering her about it."

"Oh no, I wouldn't" I assured him, "I just thought you ought to know."

"Yes, thank you Wendy." He looked up at me. "You should get some rest," he ordered, "You look pale."

"I'm fine," I told him, I heard Charle 'humph' near my feet, clearly disbelieving, but ignored her. "I'm not that tired," I continued, "All that can be done is to limit the pain they're in for a short time. And I fixed the girl up properly, but it wasn't that hard. As for their magic, that they'll have to recover on their own, I can't help with that."

"Do you know how long it will take for them to wake up?" he asked.

"Laxus should be up within the hour," I said. "But the girl… It depends entirely on how long she was possessed." I just wasn't sure, but there was something I had noticed about her recovery. "As far as I can tell," I added shyly, "she must have some resistance to this magic or she would have been in much more pain than she was. As it is, she doesn't seem that much worse than Laxus."

Master appeared concerned. "She has a small resistance?"

"Not a small one. It must have taken years." And with that I lost her composure. It was just so horrible to think of anyone having to go through that kind of pain over and over again, to be beaten when they were awake, to be abused so horribly. I couldn't help but to cry. I collapsed to my knees, "It's just so cruel," I gasped out.

Charle put a comforting paw on my shoulder. "Wendy, it's okay," she said, "I'm sure the girl will be fine. Like you said, she should recover on her own and then there will be nothing to worry about. Stop crying okay?"

I nodded, wiping my eyes. "Charle's right, Wendy," Master said. "Bad thing may have happened to her in the past but she'll be alright. Why don't you go talk to Mira and get something to drink. I will help calm you down."

I nodded, tears subsiding. "Right. Everything will be fine!"

* * *

**-Laxus POV-**

I slowly became aware of the infirmary's ceiling. Why would I of all people be in the infirmary? Maybe I had decided to take a nap or something… I don't take naps though. Why…?

That girl. The one who tried to knife gramps. She had a freaky magic coming off her. She was being controlled. She was passed out in the bed next to mine…

I sat up quickly, alarmed, but immediately regretted it. I won't admit to being in pain- but it did hurt and my muscles weren't responding properly. There was practically no magic in my system. What the hell? Did I get into an actual fight and not remember? There's no way I got this tired fighting that girl.

"Oh, Laxus! You're awake!" Wendy, a master of stating the obvious, came into the infirmary. Apparently she had stepped out momentarily to get something to drink. I also noticed she'd been crying but decided not to say anything. "Everyone was so worried!"

"What happened?" I asked, "I remember that girl showed up… and then…"

"You touched the choker she'd been wearing and- um." She stopped talking.

That wasn't a good sign. I got a nasty feeling in the pit of my stomach. "Wendy," I had to ask, "What happened?" I insisted, "What did I do?"

"No one got hurt," she said quickly before reluctantly explaining, "but you attacked the guild."

I let out a breath I hadn't realized I'd been holding and let myself flop back onto the bed, ignoring the bolt of pain it cost me. I attacked the guild. Again. And after I swore to myself… at least nobody got hurt this time.

"It's not your fault Laxus," Gramps promised me, coming in through the door after Wendy. "There is no way to avoid a spell like that. It's forbidden possession magic. It also takes quite a toll on it's victims. How are you feeling?" I just 'tch'ed. There was no way I'd admit how much it hurt to be me right now. Gramps seemed to understand that, not waiting for an answer to his question before continuing, "And you were unconscious for a full hour after only being possessed for a few minutes."

An hour? That's a long time to be out over something so small. I felt my eyes widen as a new thought occurred to me, "The girl-"

"Will be fine," Gramps cut me off reassuringly. "She is both unfortunate and lucky to have a resistance to the aftereffects of possession magic. She will recover faster," the old man explained, "but this means that she had been exposed to this magic consistently and over a long period of time. Possibly or, to say it bluntly, probably on and off for years."

I couldn't help but frown at this. She was pretty young to be going through something like that. I looked over at the bed next to me again. Now that she wasn't waving a knife at my Gramps or trying to strangle anybody she looked quite peaceful.

"Master, I think Laxus should rest some more," Wendy said, "I don't think he's recovered yet and I don't want him overdoing it."

"That's nonsense," I lied immediately, "I'm fine. I just need some food is all and I'll be fine."

"I thought you were fine already," Wendy looked at me suspiciously. Honestly, the girl was a complete pushover, but let her hear a patient and she got all bossy. I rolled my eyes. "I will bring you some food so you stay right there and no moving. I mean it." And she marched out of the room. It was entertaining to see someone so small try to boss me around. I started to sit up.

"Laxus," Gramps frowned. "Wendy will talk my ear off if I let you get out of that bed," he warned.

"Oh c'mon Gramps," I protested, "this is nothing." I was lying through my teeth, but I didn't want to just sit here. Wendy had said that nobody got hurt but I was still worried. I wanted to go check on my guildmates. I had trouble believing that I had gotten possessed and that nobody had gotten hurt. And it had also occurred to me that if I left the Raijinshuu alone for too long they'd probably freak out. Freed would likely start crying (either that or he was crying already).

* * *

**-Master POV-**

Laxus still looked guilty despite Wendy and my reassurances. I don't think he quite believed that nobody had gotten hurt. I couldn't help but be proud at how far he'd come since the Thunder Palace incident. It had nearly broken my heart to have to kick him out of the guild, but I'd had no choice. It was good to see how much my grandson cared for his nakama, it was also how these things were supposed to be. Laxus was meant to care for his family, just as Fairy Tail was mean to care for each other.

Having seen that my grandson was alright, I returned to the guild. I could hear alarming sounds coming from the other side of the infirmary door and I didn't want things to get out of hand. I had been forced to rebuild the guildhall often enough.

* * *

**-The Girl POV-**

I opened my eyes. The ceiling was unfamiliar. That was not automatically a bad thing. I would prefer a strange, unknown location over returning… to the guild. I couldn't exactly call it 'returning home', now could I? Besides, I felt relatively comfortable considering how long I must have been possessed this time. It didn't hurt to breathe anymore and my ankle wasn't throbbing. In fact, none of my previous injuries were bothering me. The only pain I felt was from being possessed. It felt nice to wake up on a bed and not chained to a wall on a stone floor… Wait. Why wasn't I chained to a wall?

"Are you awake?" Who the hell was that?! The voice scared the crap out of me and I cried out, flailing wildly, trying to get away from it. I succeeded in falling off of a bed, tangling myself in the sheets and falling on my ass. It hurt.

Someone in the next bed stifled what I identified as male laughter. The voice from before started asking if I was okay. I was not okay. As usual after being possessed, I hurt like hell. All that flailing and flailing probably hadn't helped either.

"Ouch," I admitted. Who put this floor here? Don't people realize how dangerous these things are? Someone could land on their ass and end up hurting themselves. I didn't say any of that hough. Complaining was a good way to get beaten.

A young girl with long dark blue hair came around the bed. "Are you okay?" she repeated.

"I'm fine, I'm okay. Thank you. Sorry." I cut myself off, I shouldn't talk too much. "Um…" but there was something I had to know, "D-do you know where I am?" I asked sheepishly. I didn't want to be demanding, but I had to know.

"You're in the infirmary," she answered. Fat lot of good that does me, I thought. There are lots of infirmaries out there. Can you tell me anything more specific?...

The man's voice from before added, "You're at Fairy Tail." I couldn't see him from where I was sitting on the floor because the bed blocked my view. Maybe he was a patient too. He had a deep voice.

Wait… had he said- "F-Fairy Tail?" I stuttered. Of all places! Fairy Tail! "Really?" I was so relieved, but then I remembered why I was in the infirmary and I got really scared. "What am I doing here? What happened? Did I kill anyone?" My panic steadied my voice and prevented me from stuttering. I looked at my hands which had started shaking again, there wasn't any blood on them but that didn't mean anything. They might have been washed while I was unconscious. There was no telling what I'd done, who I'd-

"Everyone's fine, don't worry," the blue haired girl promised quickly, apparently trying to reassure me. I realized I still didn't know her name but was too scared to ask.

"That's what she told me too," the guy's voice informed me, "But I haven't been allowed out to check on them because I'm still not allowed out of this damned bed," he complained.

"That's because I don't trust you not to push yourself and I don't believe you when you say you're not in pain." the girl told him sternly. Being stern didn't seem to suit her, she seemed more the kind and caring type to me.

"Tch. There's nothing wrong with me." Whoever he was really did have a deep voice. I found it oddly comforting, but it didn't distract from my real concern though.

"Did you get possessed too?" I whispered.

"Only a little," he shrugged it off. I was surprised. I didn't expect him to hear, much less answer me.

"Liar," I muttered. "It'll hurt like a bitch for at least a week and you shouldn't even try to walk for a full day. Just try using your magic and you'll knock yourself out again. Pushing yourself will only make it hurt worse."

"That's bullshit!" he protested, "I'm perfectly fine."

I realized that he had heard me and that I'd accidentally been telling him what to do. "I-! B-but, erm. Y-you know, you sh-should j-just do what-tever though. I-um, erm. Sorry." I ducked lower. Trying to hide my head with my hands.

The girl in front of me shifted towards me and I flinched involuntarily.

* * *

**-Laxus POV-**

I couldn't help but frown when I heard her flinch. There was a small 'eep' sound and some rustling of sheets. It sounded as though she was bracing herself for a blow. Was she scared of Wendy? Wendy was one of the smallest, most harmless (read: weakest) people in the guild, possibly in the entire world. She couldn't hurt a fly, much less a person. If the girl was afraid of Wendy then she must be afraid of nearly everything- or everyone.

"It's okay," I heard Wendy promise. "I won't hurt you. Let's get you back into bed. The floor can't be all that comfortable and you need to rest."

As soon as they got situated, which involved much wincing and shaking and sympathetic glances, Natsu banged open the door. The girl got scared all over again, flailing away from the noise with such force that she fell off the bed again, this time in the opposite direction.

* * *

**-Master POV-**

The girl jumped off the bed in fright when Natsu slammed the door open. I had told him that he could come, but only if he kept quiet. He was not being quiet.

"Oh c'mon Natsu!" Laxus complained from his bed, "We only just got her back on the bed and now you've gone and scared her all over again."

"S-s-s-sorry!" the girl squeaked from behind the bed. "I-I did-dn't mean-"

"It's fine kid," Laxus dismissed shortly. "Wendy, would you mind helping her again since I'm not allowed out of this damn bed?"

She gave him a look that clearly said she would have helped anyway, but offered the older girl her shoulder to lean on and held her hand as they made their way to their feet.

"I'll help too!" Natsu shouted. I saw the girl flinch when he yelled again but she didn't protest when he picked her up and set her on the bed, merely let out a small 'eep' of surprise and alarm.

"Natsu you must be quiet in the infirmary," Wendy ordered, noticing the girl's distress. "That means no more shouting or running or banging into things, okay?"

"Sorry, sorry!" he said. I couldn't help but notice that he didn't sound very sorry and that the girl flinched back from him and into Wendy, accidentally headbutting her, when he spoke so close to her ear. The girl apologized to Wendy, who then needed to reassure her that it was perfectly alright.

Once they'd finally gotten the girl back into bed and propped up against a small mountain of pillows I cleared my throat from where I was standing in the doorway. The girl flinched but, fortunately, didn't fall off the bed this time.

"Hello, I'm the master here. Nice to meetcha!" Before I could ask her name I noticed that she was shaking rather badly. She tried to hide it, fisting the blankets around her so tightly that her knuckles turned white, but I saw it anyway.

Apparently Natsu noticed too. "You don't have to be afraid of us, we're not that scary!" he smiled at her.

"So-sorry, I-I jus-" She was having troubles forming a complete sentence. "ne-nev-ver s-s-saw so m-many p-people at once b-before."

"It's fine," I reassured her, "Natsu, Wendy, could you give us a minute?" Laxus moved to leave too but stopped at a glance from Wendy. She could be quite threatening for her age when it came to uncooperative patients. Laxus lay back down. I nodded. He'd made a good decision.

* * *

**-Laxus POV-**

I watched the girl from my position on the bed. She flinched at loud noises or whenever anyone moved to touch her. A permanently scared expression seemed plastered onto her face. Shen she was finally set up in bed, for the second time I might add, she started shaking like a leaf. I was shocked when she said that she'd never seen so many people before. There were only four of us! Just what kind of life had she been living until now?

When gramps asked the others to leave I tried to take advantage of the situation and escape too but Wendy shot me a look that froze me in my tracks. She'd probably throw a fit or something if I tried to move so I made the prudent decision and gave up.

Gramps sat on the foot of her bed. "Now, child, would you mind telling me your name?" he asked once her shaking had subsided.

"R-Rio," she stuttered, staring intently at her knees, "Rio Mal-Malkovich."

"Daughter of Magda?" Gramps asked, eyes widening. The girl, Rio, just nodded shyly. I had absolutely no idea who Magda was, but I decided to ask Gramps later. "She had a daughter?" Rio nodded again.

"Do you know why you're here?" Gramps asked. I couldn't help but think he was trying to stick to yes or no questions so she wouldn't have to talk. It was probably a good call. As much as she was shaking I worried that she might bite her tongue if she tried to speak.

Rio noded.

"Do you understand that you were possessed?"

She nodded again. She pulled her legs closer and hugged herself tightly like she was trying to disappear.

"Do you know for how long?"

She shrugged. "O-on and off f-for a long time. M-my hair w-was shor- short-t sh-shorter the-en," she stuttered. Gramps looked to me. She'd spoken so quietly that I needed to use my dragon hearing to know what she'd said.

"She said it's been years," I told him, frowning That was a long time to be possessed like that. And if it hurt like this every time it was almost no wonder that she was so scared. That wasn't a kind of life I'd wish on anybody.

Gramps was silent for a moment, frowning. What was he going to do with the girl? She had attacked the guild, but nobody had been hurt and it wasn't really her doing it. Rio obviously had nowhere else to go and nobody to look after her.

"Would you like to stay here, Rio?" Gramps offered.

Her head shot up and she stared at him, mouth gaping like she didn't understand. IN her confusion she stopped shaking. Then she realized what she was doing and immediately lowered her head again to stare instead at the blankets again. "W-why would-?"

"You obviously have nowhere else to go," I pointed out, cutting her off. I didn't want to listen to her stuttering anymore when there was no reason I'd be letting her leave anyway. "And we can hardly kick you out when you so obviously need help." She turned to face me, but didn't, or possibly couldn't, meet my eyes. "You may as well stick with us here at Fairy Tail, at least for a while." I would have shrugged if I didn't know how much it would hurt.

Apparently she wasn't satisfied. "B-but I'd b-be a burden an-nd I d-don't want t-to i-intrude a-and I-"

"It's not a problem. You won't be a burden. You're not intruding. And, quite frankly, you need our help, so you should accept Gramps's offer."

Rio's shaking had started up again, but she nodded vigorously. "I-I'll stay," she said.

I smiled to myself. She may be staying out of fear, but it was best for her, so her reasons didn't really matter.

* * *

**-Rio POV-**

"It's not a problem. You won't be a burden. You're not intruding. And, quite frankly, you need our help, so you should accept Gramps's offer."

That made me really happy, scared because he sounded kind of angry, but happy. I wasn't a burden. I don't think he realized just how much that meant to me, having been a burden of one kind or another all my life. I wanted to stay. I nodded, but then I realized they might not be able to tell when I was shaking this much. "I-I'll stay," I told them with as much conviction as I could muster. It wasn't much, but it was what I had.

The man in the bed- I think they'd called him Laxus- smiled. It was strange because people didn't usually smile at me but it made me happy. I liked smiles.

* * *

**-Grey POV-**

I was starting to think that the master had been talking in the infirmary for a long time. I decided that it would be best to ask Wendy about the girl. Natsu had been in there and seen her, but getting information out of that flame brain wasn't the most reliable way to learn about someone. Wendy was apparently lost in thought and frowning over by Erza and Lucy. THat wasn't a good sign. Wendy rarely frowned about anything.

"Hey, Wendy," I said, breaking her out of her revive, "How are they?"

"Laxus keeps insisting he's fine," Wendy said, looking up, "but I think he's still in a lot of pain otherwise he'd just ignore me when I told him to lie back down. He should recover soon though. It's nothing to worry about."

"And the girl?" Erza asked, apparently just as interested as me, "What about her condition?"

"She's been through a lot and she seems really scared," Wendy began, frown returning, "She obviously didn't attack us of her own free will and she doesn't seem to remember what happened. When I told her that nobody got hurt she looked so relieved. She's in a lot of pain too from having her body controlled for so long, but she'll recover eventually. I've already done all I can for her physically, but I'm still worried about her."

Any hostilities I may have been harboring against the girl for attacking my guild disappeared as I heard Wendy describe her and her condition. She was obviously just another victim here. She might even need our support to get through… whatever it was that she was going through.

I looked up and, meeting Erza and Lucy's eyes, realized we were all thinking the same thing. The girl would see nothing but friendly faces from Team Natsu when she woke up.

* * *

**-Laxus POV-**

I had already counted the rafters several times. Unsurprisingly, the number had not changed since the first time. There were thirteen, sectioning off the ceiling into clean white rectangles. Wow, I thought, I must be really bored if I've started doing math. Or does counting not count as math? Maybe it counts as basic math. And now I'm debating what qualifies as math. This ceiling really is boring. I looked over at Rio. She was also staring at the ceiling.

"So," I said, breaking the silence, "are you as bored as I am right now?"

"Actually, never in my life have I been this nervous," Rio answered.

"Hey," I noticed, "You didn't stutter that time. Good job."

"That only happens when I'm scared and when I've got to look someone in the eyes," she explained, "It doesn't happen all the time thankfully, that would suck. It still sucks that I can't always speak like a normal person, but it's not quite as suckish as stuttering all the time. If I'm calm enough I can speak just fine. But when I'm scared…" her voice trailed off.

Before thinking things through I asked, "Why are you so scared of people?" I hadn't meant to say that out loud, but I still wanted to know the answer and she seemed perfectly willing to give me a response.

"It's because I've never really met another human being that didn't hate me other than my brother," she said, still staring at the ceiling, "I don't trust people because I've never met anyone worth trusting." Rio spoke so easily. Her honesty threw me and I hadn't meant to get her thinking about such depressing things so I tried to change the subject.

"You've got a brother?" I asked.

"Had," she corrected, "He's dead now. Drowned when I was five. We were twins."

Okay, that backfired big time, I thought. "I'm sorry" I said, "I didn't mean to bring up bad memories."

"It's fine," she replied, "It's not like it was your fault or anything." I could almost feel her blaming herself. She sounded so dejected.

Shit! I just made things worse. I realized. Quick, think of something cheerful to talk about before she starts crying or something. "So what kind of magic do you use?" Nice! Everyone's proud of their magic, she can't possibly get depressed about that. Or so I thought.

"My magic's pretty weak- well, it's actually strong magic. I'm the one that's weak," Rio began, "and my training is kind of permanently incomplete because my teacher just up and disappeared on me one day. It kind of sucked."

"So you're a dragon slayer?" I asked. I'd heard this story too many times from too many people before not to put the pieces together.

"Yeah, how'd you know?" she asked. She sounded surprised.

"Natsu, Wendy and Gajeel. The same thing happened to them." I explained, "I'm a dragon slayer too but I'm second generation so I never met any dragons."

"Maybe that's better," Rio muttered, "That way you don't have to miss anyone."

Rather than let her follow that train of thought I asked her what kind for dragon slayer she was.

"Oh, I learned from Mosoroth, so I'm the water dragon slayer."

"That's cool. We've already got Natsu, that moron from earlier, he's the fire dragon slayer, Wendy, you met her too, the sky dragon slayer, and Gajeel. He's the metal dragon slayer."

"What about you?" Rio asked, still not looking at me but staring insistently at the ceiling to avoid stuttering.

"Me? I'm the lightning dragon slayer."


	3. Chapter 3

**-Laxus POV-**

My only source of entertainment had started snoring in the middle of her sentence. One second she was talking about her dragon, Mosoroth, and the next thing I know she falls asleep. How can someone fall asleep while talking? I wondered, Is that even possible? Well, obviously it is because she just did. I glanced at her. There were bags under her eyes and her hair was tangled, but she looked at peace. Examining her cloths I noticed that her jeans were a size or two too big and held up not by a belt but by some frayed rope tied in a careless knot. Her massively oversized hoodie looked like it had seen better days, what with being stained and wrinkled, and her too-small tank top wasn't much better. All her clothes were fraying at the hems and some had holes in them. She obviously wasn't taken care of very well by this Magda Malkovich lady, whoever that is. I decided. And who is this Magda? Why does Gramps care so much? I questioned. Fortunately, I knew how to get some answers.

"Hey, Levy," I said. Levy had been assigned to watch over Rio and me and make sure that I didn't try to get out of bed and Rio didn't get too scared of anything. She was currently nose-deep in what I assumed to be a very interesting book. "Levy? You awake in there?" She looked up, just then noticing that I was talking to her. "Can you get Gramps for me?" I asked, "I'd like to talk to him about something."

"Yeah, sure Laxus," she said, using a pen as a bookmark. "One sec."

It took more than a second, but I didn't mind. It wasn't like I hand anything else to do but wait anyway. "You wanted to see me Laxus?" Gramps asked, entering the room.

"Yeah, it's about Rio." I said, "Why were you so freaked out when she mentioned who her mom was? Who is Magda Malkovich and why does it matter? You obviously know, so tell me."

Gramps sighed. "I can't say I didn't expect you to ask," he said and shook his head. "Ah, well, you would have found out eventually. Levy, would you give us a minute?"

Levy looked surprised, then worried, then pleased. That last look was suspicious but she quickly covered it up. I don't think Gramps noticed because he didn't say anything as Levy left the room. He was too preoccupied with his own thoughts. I chose to ignore it. I didn't think it would be a big deal.

* * *

**-Levy POV-**

Laxus had asked a lot of interesting questions, questions that I didn't know the answers to. To be honest, it sparked my curiosity. The Master's response didn't help much either. "I can't say I didn't expect you to ask," he had said, and then he gave that sad headshake, like he was resigned to talk about something he didn't want to. "Ah, well, you would have found out eventually," he sighed. I really wanted to find out now. But then he said, "Levy, would you give us a minute?"

That caught me off guard. There was something the Master didn't want me to know? Didn't he realize how much I like to know things? Why else would I read so many books? Whatever he was going to say must be really important if he was unwilling to talk about it in front of me. It might be bad. But I still wanted to know. And I had an idea of how to find out too. I resisted the urge to smile to myself, that might give me away.

* * *

**-Laxus POV-**

Once Levy left, I continued pressing for answers. "So what's so secret that you can't tell Levy. If it's such a big deal then how come I get to know about it and she doesn't?" I asked.

Gramps sighed. "I could lie and say that it's because you're an S-Class mage and she's not, but that's not why. It has nothing to do with how much I trust or don't trust anybody or how strong anybody is or whether or not I think you can handle it. I sent Levy out of the room because this doesn't concern her. And you're still here because this does concern you, albeit indirectly."

"You're avoiding the subject old man," I accused. "Get to the point."

He sighed again. He was doing that a lot. "First just know that I never told you because there was no reason to tell you. It wouldn't have changed anything. Also know that I'd never heard of Rio before today." For half a second, I was tempted to say something about the brother that she'd mentioned when she was awake, but then I realized she might not want people knowing about that so instead I gave Gramps a look, urging him to keep talking. "I'm honestly not sure where to start. Magda Malkovich was a mage of Fairy Tail years ago. You weren't even born yet. The reason you never heard of her is because one day she just up and disappeared. We searched, naturally, but the only reason nobody could find her is because she didn't want to be found, so we gave up. Your father and I were worried sick of course, but what could we do? It was her choice…"

"Okay, yeah, you're not helping me much here," I complained, "Just get to the point already. What does my dad have to do with any of this? So far none of this is a big deal. All I've got is that Rio's mom used to be part of Fairy Tail. That's cool and all, but not very helpful. What aren't you telling me?"

"Magda was a powerful mage," Gramps continued like I hadn't even spoken. "She was determined to use shortcuts, however, to cut corners in complicated spells and take the easy road. In short she was lazy. She didn't care about means or method so long as she got the result she wanted. Magda eventually started reading books she shouldn't have, trying spells she wasn't supposed to. When she discovered possession magic, she was ecstatic. It hadn't been banned back then and, while it was still immoral, it wasn't yet illegal for her to practice it. I tried, of course to convince her to find a different path and to choose another field of study, but she refused. Magda willingly chose to master possession magic."

It took me a moment to realize what Gramps was implicating here. Then it hit me. "You mean Rio was possessed by her own mother?" I fought the urge to raise my voice, knowing it would wake Rio in the bed next to mine and that she'd be terrified by the noise. "And for years?" I was whisper-yelling now, enraged but restrained. "Why would she-"

"I don't know," Gramps said, looking down. He seemed ultimately saddened about it. I hadn't seen that face since he'd been forced to kick me out. His expression brought up bad memories and I knew there was more he wasn't telling me. "The reason that-" he hesitated. It was getting really annoying when he did that. He took a quick breath and continued. "The reason that this concerns you is because Magda was your father's sister. My second child. Your aunt."

I'm pretty sure I was actually slackjawed for a second there. "That would make Rio…"

I was interrupted by a loud noise and lots of yelling.

* * *

**-Gajeel POV- -5 Minutes Ago-**

Shrimp came out of the infirmary looking pleased. "Gajeel, I am borrowing your ears," she informed me before grabbing my arm and dragging me towards the infirmary door. I followed willingly, confused.

"You're what now?" I asked, Pantherlily flying along behind me.

"Master and Laxus are talking about something interesting and I want to know what it is. So, logically, I'm going to use your dragon hearing to spy on them. It'll be fun!"

"Are you sure it's okay to spy on the Master if he doesn't want to tell you?" Lily asked, frowning.

Levy paused and looked guilty for about half a second before her eagerness returned. "It'll be fine. I just really want to know is all. Gajeel, you'll help me, right?" She tilted her head to one side, blue hair shifting and touching her shoulders, hazel eyes looking at me expectantly.

Well shit, when you put it that way I can't say no, I thought. "Yeah, whatever," I said. "I've got nothing better to do."

She squealed happily and continued pulling me across the room. It wasn't really necessary, I knew where the infirmary door was and I could walk on my own, but I didn't complain. It was the Shrimp after all, there wasn't much to protest about.

We knelt next to the door. I repeated the words as I heard them. "I sent Levy out of the room because this doesn't concern her," that's Master speaking I thought, "And you're still here because this does concern you, albeit indirectly. You're avoiding the subject old man," I didn't bother changing my voice to imitate Laxus. His attitude spoke for itself.

"What are you doing?" the stupid salamander asked, much too loudly.

"Shhh!" Levy admonished him in a stage whisper. "We're spying. Go away!"

"But I wanna know who you're spying on!" he whined just as loudly.

"Shut up flame brain," Gray said, coming up behind him. "You're too loud to spy on people. You lack the ability."

"What was that ice princess?!" Natsu demanded.

"Both of you shut up," Levy ordered. "You're interfering with my spying." Damn, I thought, Shrimp's pretty bossy when she wants to know something. I wouldn't want to get in her way. "Gajeel, why aren't you talking?" I tried to splutter an apology, but Natsu started speaking before I could. I'd forgotten he had dragon ears too.

"Just get to the point already." Natsu said, making a face and trying to imitate Laxus's deep voice. It wasn't really working, but it was entertaining. "What does my dad have to do with any of this? So far none of this is a big deal. All I've got is that Rio's mom used to be part of Fairy Tail. That's cool and all, but not very helpful. What aren't you telling me?"

"Magda was a powerful mage," I said, speaking for Master. Levy looked up at me, eyes shining, apparently delighted to be gathering new information.

"What are you guys doing near the infirmary door?" Wendy asked, interrupting me. SHe didn't look pleased, but, being Wendy, she didn't look very mad either. "Are you spying on Master?" she asked, "That's not right."

Levy wasted no time thinking. She clapped a hand over the younger mage's mouth and put both their ears to the door. "Magda eventually started reading books she shouldn't have, trying spells she wasn't supposed to. When she discovered possession magic, she was ecstatic." I translated, knowing that Wendy and Shrimp could probably hear anyway because they had their ears pressed to the crack in the door, but Grey was too far away from the door to hear. I might as well let him know what was going on if he wanted to spy too.

"You see now Wendy?" Shrimp said. "You're an accomplice now. We get caught, you get caught. Now shh!"

"Magda willingly chose to master possession magic." I continued. Grey had joined Levy in pressing his ear to the door but I spoke aloud anyway, knowing that Bunny Girl and Titania were now listening in from their table too, although they were faking disinterest.

Natsu started translating for Laxus again. "You mean Rio was possessed by her own mother?" As he repeated the words their meaning dawned on him and I saw rage wash over him, he got ready to charge into the room but Titania grabbed his scarf at the last second.

"Be quiet!" she hissed, "I want to hear this!" Apparently she was done pretending not to listen in. "Gajeel, speak." she commanded. I complied, but not because I was scared or anything. I was already doing this for Shrimp.

"The reason that-" I stopped. Titania glared at me but I waved her off. It wasn't my fault that Master stopped speaking. "The reason that this concerns you is because Magda was your father's sister. My second child. Your aunt." I felt my own frown growing as I spoke.

Natsu lost it. "WHAAAT!?" Bunny girl started choking on her milkshake. Shrimp's eyes flew wide and she leaned away from the door in disbelief, like it might have lied to her or something. Grey was shouting, same as Natsu, only he had slightly better questions. "Since when did Gramps have another kid? Why didn't we hear about this?! What the hell!" Wendy was sitting there in disbelief, I think she was too confused to make sense of any of this. Titania had, for reasons foreign no me, summoned a very scary-looking sword and started marching towards the door like it had insulted her family and she was about to deal retribution. Even Lily and Happy seemed surprised. Someone busted open the door and the noise poured in.

My last thought was We are so caught. Master's gonna kill us.

* * *

**-Rio POV-**

A loud noise woke me up. I didn't remember falling asleep or where I was, but loud noises meant angry women and angry women meant beatings. I screamed and flailed, falling a short distance and scrabbling back. My body screamed in pain and my muscles weren't responding the way I wanted them to. I realized that I was being restrained and jolted back in fear. My head connected with something hard and it hurt but I didn't care. It wouldn't hurt as much as being kicked or slapped. I managed to push backwards, mildly realizing that I was being confined with blankets and not chains or ropes, but still just as terrified. I found a spot that was darker and smaller and pressed my back up against a smooth wall. I couldn't seem to get enough air into my lungs.

Maybe they wouldn't find me. Maybe they wouldn't hurt me. Maybe they'd let me go. I heard loud voices, some shouting some yelling, all angry or accusatory or worried. They sounded so close. I covered my ears. I didn't want to know what they were saying I didn't want to hear what they were saying. I didn't want to know. I was so damn scared. I hated being scared and not having any courage to fight back anymore, but it just wasn't in me. I'd known for a long time that my will to fight back had been broken, but I still hadn't made my peace with it. I didn't want to be broken and scared and useless and weak. But I was. And I didn't need them to tell me.

I could feel the shaking all over my body and my hair was probably sticking out of my hiding place. I grabbed the ends and hugged it to my chest. Then I realized my head was exposed. My hands snapped back to my ears, ready to take the blow. I curled into a ball as tightly as I could. Hot tears leaked out of my eyes no matter how tightly I squeezed them shut. There was just no way to escape.

Unbidden, my mind summoned up a memory. No, I thought, not now! Don't leave me defenseless now! I don't want to be hurt! I don't want to see! Don't make me remember! But the memory was too strong and it washed over me anyway.

_"You stupid little bitch!" my mother shrieked, "How dare you defy me!?"_

_"What are you going to do?" I demanded will as much dignity as I could manage while chained to a wall. "Are you going to beat me again? I don't care anymore! I don't care! I don't care if you kill me! Why would I care about getting hit anymore!? You'll do it anyway!" It was true after all. I was only five or six at the time but I knew what the world I lived in was like. I'd be beaten whether I obeyed or not and I was sick of obeying._

_She slapped me across the face and I tasted blood, but it just pissed me off more. It hurt and I hated it, but I wasn't scared. And I didn't care._

_"Rio!" Ray shouted from where he was chained across from me. "Stop pissing her off! You'll just make it worse on yourself! Please!"_

_"So what!?" I shouted, "I don't care about me anymore!"_

_My mother's eyes suddenly took on a very scare gleam, making me hesitate. "You don't care about yourself anymore, eh?" she asked. I knew something bad was coming because she was speaking quietly. That only ever happened before she did something truly horrible. Against my own will, I started to feel a little bit scared. "Well then I won't bother doing anything to you, little bitch. I'll just have to vent my anger on someone else."_

_She turned to my brother. Ray's face faltered slightly, but he glanced at me and summoned his own courage. "Do whatever you want." he said. Despite the calm voice he was using, I could see that he was just as scared as I was. "Just don't hurt my sister."_

_I tried to step between them but I was chained to the opposite wall from my twin. I couldn't get close enough. All I could do was watch. And I did. And I listened. Ray didn't let out any shouts or cries of pain. He grunted and winced and I knew he was hurting but he wouldn't admit it. Because he knew it would be worse for me. He knew I'd blame myself. And I did._

_Once mother was done beating him she just left, without saying anything to either of us. I scrambled across the floor towards him and extended my hand as far as it would go. Slowly, Ray pulled himself over to me and extended his own hand. Our fingers could barely touch. I felt myself crying._

_"It's okay," Ray promised, "I'm okay Rio. I'm okay. You're okay. Everything will be okay. We're okay. It's okay." He kept repeating it, like a mantra. Like if he said it enough it would come true. But I couldn't stop apologizing. And I couldn't stop crying. And I was too weak to do anything. And I hated myself almost as much as I hated my mother._

The flashback ended and I snapped back into the present. I started sobbing almost immediately. I just couldn't help it. I felt hands on my skin, arms reaching for me, trying to pull me out of my hiding place. I screamed in fear, and shouted, "No! No, don't hurt me! Don't hurt me! I'm sorry! Please don't hurt me! No! I'm sorry! I don't want to! I don't want to! Please don't hurt me! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! It's my fault! It's all my fault! I'm sorry!" I didn't remember what I'd done or who was mad at me but I was terrified and confused. I kept trying to back into the wall and disappear but I couldn't. "I didn't mean to! I'm sorry! Don't make me!" I could hear voices and I knew they were saying things to me but I didn't understand and I couldn't calm down enough to listen. I flailed and kicked out accidentally before hugging my knees to my chest. What if I'd accidentally kicked someone? They'd be so mad. "I'm sorry! Please don't hurt me!"

* * *

**-Laxus POV- -Some Time Ago-**

"That would make Rio…"

I was interrupted by a loud noise and lots of yelling. Natsu, Erza, Grey, Gajeel all burst into the room shouting unintelligibly, Levy and Wendy tumbling in after them. Lily, Happy and Charle all followed their partners and started flying around the room. Lucy appeared in the doorway with a milkshake still in her hand, looking confused and alarmed. For a few seconds the room was nothing but noise and shouting and flying cats. Considering that this was Fairy Tail, I wasn't overly concerned until I looked over to the bed next to mine. Rio wasn't there; her blankets were strewn onto the floor and her pillows had been knocked away. She must have been scared off the bed again. It wasn't that surprising. But it did piss me off.

"You idiots are being too loud! Where's Rio?" I demanded. Unsurprisingly, they fell silent. I was pleased with their reaction, but not with their response. Wendy's eyes flew wide when she saw the empty bed. "Don't just stand there gawking!" I ordered the lot of them, then lowered my voice so that, wherever she was, Rio wouldn't be scared of me. "Start searching for her. She must still be in the room."

It didn't take long for her to be found. Apparently she was under my bed. "I found her!" Lucy yelled happily.

"Don't shout," I ordered, slightly louder than I'd meant to. I took a split second to calm myself before ordering, "Wendy, you check on her, she knows you."

Wendy got on her hands and knees and stuck her head under my bed. I shifted despite the pain the action cost me. I couldn't help but feel frustrated that I could barely move and that there was not much I could do in this state. Everyone else in the room was surprisingly quiet, but I still didn't think Rio would want them there anyway.

Gramps ordered them out. When Natsu moved to protest, he got a hard look in return. "I'll talk to you all about barging in like than once we've calmed Rio down," he threatened. Natsu and Grey paled and started muttering something about 'that' while Erza bowed and dragged the both of them out by their ears. The others left willingly, including Charle, though she gave a worried glance at Wendy first. Once Gramps had closed the door behind them, he turned back to us. "Wendy, how is she?" he asked.

Wendy's head was still under my bed. I could vaguely see her feet sticking out when I turned my head. "It looks like she's in shock," she reported, voice muffled by the mattress. "Her breathing is too fast and she'd not blinking. Her heartrate's up and her pupils are dilated. It looks like this may have happened before, but I don't see-" Wendy was cut off as sobbing filled the room- deep, terrified sounds that pulled at the heartstrings. "Hey, it's okay," Wendy said soothingly, "you're safe now, nobody-"

"No!" Rio screeched, "No, don't hurt me! Don't hurt me! I'm sorry!" She started apologizing and begging not to be hurt and screaming. Wendy was trying to calm her down, fear creeping into her voice at the violent reaction Rio was giving her, but it wasn't working. If anything, Rio was only getting more worked up. I don't even think Rio could hear the younger girl over her own screams. Gramps looked sick, but he was frozen in place.

"Wendy, what happened?" I shouted, it was the only way to be heard.

"I don't know!" she answered, alarmed, "I just reached out to touch her and she freaked out! I don't know what to do!"

I groaned and rolled off the bed. The landing hurt, but I reminded myself that Rio had fallen off her bed three times already and that she hadn't complained and had barely even admitted that she was in pain. The poor girl stopped screaming suddenly. From my new spot on the floor I could see her curled into a ball against the wall. On instinct I reached out and pulled her to me. She flinched violently but didn't struggle. I pulled her to my chest and lay on my back. Rio was shaking in my arms.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," she whispered over and over again. She just kept saying it. And it sounded so true. I didn't know what she was sorry about, but the way she said it I didn't think she could ever forgive herself.

"It's okay," I said, stroking her back. "It's okay." I wasn't really sure how one went about comforting someone, much less someone as scared as Rio was, but I couldn't let her face this alone. "It's okay. You're okay. You're safe now." Slowly her shaking subsided and her whispers became slurred as she cried herself to sleep. I looked down at the girl in my arms. Her hair had fallen down in her face and there were tears streaked across her cheeks. Now that she was asleep she looked calm, almost peaceful and her breathing had evened out. I brushed her hair behind her ear with one hand.

It was hard to reconcile her sleeping face with the girl who had been so completely afraid just a minute ago. The girl who… was my cousin? Yeah, that's what she was to me. The poor kid had been through enough. As soon as she woke up and I knew she was okay, I was going to kill all those idiots for scaring her like that. Didn't they realize how scared she'd be, waking up in an unfamiliar place surrounded by people she didn't know and with all that noise? Anyone would be scared in her position. They should know better, especially Natsu. He'd already seen how scared she was of loud noises.

"Laxus?" Gramps asked. He didn't seem to know how to finish that sentence.

"She's asleep," I told him. "Me and Wendy can look after her, don't worry. You go talk to the idiots and the rest of the guild. They'll need an explanation. I've got this."

He nodded and left the room. Gramps didn't seem quite himself, but I couldn't blame him. "Wendy, could you help me up?" I asked, "I don't want Rio sleeping on the floor."

To Wendy's credit, she really did try to help me, but because of her tiny size there wasn't much she could do. I basically had to stand up by myself and carry Rio. Because of the muscle pains it hurt like hell, but Rio wasn't heavy and I did my best not to let Wendy see my pain. When I moved to set Rio down on the bed, she whimpered and clutched at my shirt. I hesitated, uncertain.

"Just don't put her down," Wendy suggested, seeing my predicament. "Your presence seems to be calming her down well enough so I think you should just stick her for a little while. That would probably be best." She nodded to herself.

I agreed and sat on the bed, Rio still sleeping in my arms.

* * *

**-Wendy POV-**

I don't think I've ever seen Laxus look so… concerned for someone. It was kind of cute, not that I'd ever tell him that. He held Rio carefully, like she was made of glass and he kept glancing down at her to make sure she was alright despite the fact that she was still in his arms.

But I guess that makes sense. I mean, according to what Master had said, he was her cousin. He may have only found out recently, but they were still related by blood. For a dragon, or even a dragon slayer like Laxus, that was a big deal. Instincts demanded that we protect our own, family above all. Being a part of Fairy Tail had reminded me of that, it was something I'd only been absently aware of at Cait Shelter because I'd been protected the whole time. Here, I was still protected just as fiercely, if not more so, but I was allowed to understand what danger was and what it mean to take risks for your family. It made me happy.

I helped Laxus prop himself up against a wall of pillows and pull the blanket up over Rio. She really did look like such a sweet, fragile girl when she was sleeping. She may have been older than me, but I still felt like I ought to help protect her. Normally it would be Rio protecting me because of our age difference, but, perhaps because of what Rio had been through, she didn't feel older than me. She looked like she needed protecting and I wanted to help be a part of that.

I checked both her and Laxus over with my magic. Rio had managed to hit her head at some point but she wasn't bleeding and it was an easy fix. Both of them had accumulated more than a couple bruises from their respective falls which I tended to automatically. Laxus protested when I healed him but I ignored him. It wasn't like I could simply ignore my family's pain. I yawned against my will. Laxus caught me trying to hide it.

"You should go to sleep too, Wendy." Laxus told me, "You took exhausted and you've done too much healing today. Charle will be mad if you don't get some rest."

"But I don't want to leave," I protested, "I want to stay here. What if she wakes up again?"

Laxus sighed, apparently understanding. "Fine," he spoke quietly so he wouldn't wake Rio, "You can stay here, but sleep in one of the empty beds, okay? You don't want your strength crapping out on you."

I nodded an curled up in the bed Rio had been using. I'm pretty sure I fell asleep almost instantly, but I was too tired to be certain.


	4. Chapter 4

**-Rio POV-**

I don't remember what I was dreaming about, but it was vaguely nice. That was unusual. I only ever get nightmares. Usually true ones. I often wake up suddenly, scared and sweating and breathing hard and alone and I hate it because it makes me feel weak. But I didn't do that this time. I felt warm and safe and I wasn't scared of anything. I remember feeling like that sometimes when I was with Mosoroth, but he was gone.

I knew I'd have to open my eyes eventually, but I was reluctant. I didn't want this fragile happiness to disappear. Instead I took in my surroundings though my other senses- my dragon senses. I smelled pine forests and coffee, that one was strongest and closest. I smelled antiseptic and clean linens, that was probably the room I was in. I smelled freshly mowed grass and tea, presumably another person. There were other smells, but they were too faded to identify. Listening, I heard a rhythmic thumping. I didn't recognize the noise right away. Then I figured out that it was a heartbeat, likely a sleeping one by how slow it was. It was comforting, the sound of that heartbeat. It made me feel safe.

Slowly, I opened my eyes. It took me a moment to remember where I was. The infirmary at Fairy Tail. How strange, to be here of all places. The blue haired girl from before was curled up in the bed next to mine and fast asleep. She seemed nice. I think her name was Wendy, but I wasn't sure. Nobody had introduced themselves properly except the Master and he'd introduced himself as Master so I still had no idea what his name really was.

I moved my head, trying to get my bearings. Once I processed what I was seeing I flinched and let out a small 'eep'. I was staring at a very large, very muscular, very male and very close chest. I looked up. He was sitting upright, leaning against a mountain of pillows with his head knocked back so it took me a minute to recognize him, but I eventually identified that guy from before. His name was Laxus, right?

I was curled up on his lap, knees to my chest, with his arms wrapped around me. I shifted slightly, but then I realized that might wake him and I quickly stopped moving. What had happened? Wasn't I in a different bed before? Why would anyone willingly choose to be so close to me? ME of all people! Why would he be holding me?

I stopped asking questions when I realized something: I liked being held. It felt safe. I hadn't felt safe for a long time. It was nice. I relaxed back into Laxus and snuggled closer. It was like he was a giant teddy bear, not that I'd ever had a teddy bear, but I'd seen them and they looked so snuggly and nice. I smiled and went back to sleep. My last thought before I drifted off again was, _so he's the one who smells of pine and coffee. It's a nice smell._

* * *

**-Laxus POV-**

It took me a while to wake up. The first thing I realized was that my neck hurt from sleeping at an awkward angle. Then I realized that the rest of my pain had gone down significantly. I now merely felt soar, like I'd overworked myself but hadn't done any real damage. It was surprisingly refreshing not to be in pain.

I noticed a small weight on my lap. Looking down, I saw Rio. She was smiling slightly in her sleep. It was good to see her smile, she hadn't before and I wasn't sure if she knew how. I couldn't help but notice how extremely small she was, especially compared to me and I didn't mean just in terms of height. Rio was far too thin. Despite the contented expression on her face, she had bags under her eyes and her cheeks were gaunt. I could feel her ribs digging into me slightly when she breathed. Rio hadn't been fed enough. Judging by how tired Wendy had been, she'd been forced to heal more injuries than just my bruises. Probably on Rio, ones I hadn't noticed when her body was fighting me. Earlier she'd been begging not to be hit.

I suppressed a growl. It sickened me that anyone could do such things to another human thing. Sure, I liked fighting, but I never picked on the weak or abused anyone to such an extent. And to think that Rio's own mother… No. She was my aunt too, not that Rio knew that yet. I couldn't just pretend that Magda Malkovich had nothing to do with me. I wouldn't distance myself from her just because it was unpleasant. She may be no family of mine, Fairy Tail was my family after all, but I would not pretend that her actions were unrelated to me. Inevitably, I found myself thinking about my father. He was a power hungry dick, sure, but we were still related and he'd never been as horrible to me as Magda was to Rio. I mean, yeah, he was alway saying how I was weak and useless but in the end I had proved him wrong, taking out him and all of Raven Tail with him at the GMG. It hadn't even been that hard. Geez, what was it about my father's generation that made them turn out like assholes? First my father and now Rio's mother. Despicable.

I could understand the hunger for power, I could see where they were coming from in that sense, but to search so desperately that you were willing to kill for it? To put their own children through that kind of hell? This time I did let out a growl, low in my chest, but fortunately Rio slept through it. I couldn't help it. I was tough enough to take that kind of abuse, but Rio wasn't. She was too small and too fragile for something like that. Magda should have been protecting her, not hurting her. Rio and her brother… That was a sobering thought. I'd had a cousin that I would never meet. He was dead.

I took a deep breath. I noticed that Rio smelled of fresh rainfall and damp earth. It fit her quite nicely, as did the blue streaks in her hair. It hinted to her position as the water dragon slayer and matched her personality. Rio was shy, and she got scared easily of things and people that shouldn't be scary, but she was honest and kind. I'd seen that after my conversation with her about her past. Rio was carrying some heavy burdens, but I would protect her from them. It was only natural. I would protect her since no one in her life ever had before.

* * *

**-Wendy POV-**

Laxus was sitting up in bed, hugging Rio to his chest jealously, like someone might try and take her away from him. It was kind of cute to see the big, scary dragon slayer being so protective. I couldn't help but smile.

"Oh, Wendy, you're awake," he noticed.

"Yeah," I croaked out, rubbing my eyes. "How are you feeling?" I asked, "Are you still in any pain? Because if you hurt then Rio will still be hurting too and we shouldn't wake her. If you're not that means she should be okay too and we should get her some food. She needs to eat more."

"Well that's good," Laxus said, sounding relieved, "I'm feeling much better - this can barely even be called pain - but are you sure we should wake Rio? She still looks pretty much exhausted and I don't want her to freak if we wake her up and she misunderstands or something."

"Maybe you're right, we'll let her wake up on her own," I agreed, surprised that Laxus could be so considerate. I understand that his instincts are telling him to protect Rio, but it never occurred to me what might happen if we tried to wake Rio. He was more caring that I would have expected. "I will, however, be getting you some food. You missed dinner yesterday in all the commotion and I don't want you to starve to death."

He smiled at that, nodding. "Yeah, food would be good," he admitted.

* * *

**-Mira POV-**

Wendy came up to me, emerging from the Infirmary. Apparently she'd slept in there last night. That would explain why Charle had insisted on staying in the Guild and didn't return to Fairy Hills. She must have been worried about her partner. When Wendy ordered a mountain of food for breakfast, mostly consisting of meat, I couldn't help but give her a questioning look. Had she hit puberty all of a sudden and gained a dragon slayer's appetite?

"It's for Laxus" she explained seeing my expression. "He's already woken up. He's also feeling much better."

I nodded in understanding and went to prepare the food. I looked at Wendy, hesitating before handing over the food. I was reluctant to ask the girl, but I also felt that I had a right to know, at least a little bit. "Wendy?" I asked, "How is the girl?"

Wendy looked down and sighed. "I guess there's no point in keeping it a secret anymore, at least not after all that screaming you must have heard yesterday. About Rio," she paused but I didn't pressure her. I knew it wouldn't be something that someone so young would feel comfortable discussing. "She's been abused for years," Wendy said, staring at the floor. "I saw the physical evidence right away when I examined her yesterday and I healed what I could. The psychological damage isn't so easy to deal with though and I couldn't see it until she woke up. Rio is scared of basically everything, especially loud noises and people. That's why she flipped out yesterday, because so many people broke into the infirmary shouting. Before she freaked out though… she was in some kind of state of waking catatonia. I've never seen anything like it. I'd like to ask her about it when she wakes up, but I don't want to put her under more stress than necessary." She stopped talking. Wendy hadn't stopped staring gloomily at the floor the entire time she spoke and couldn't seem to meet my eyes. I think she felt guilty. Then her face brightened considerably as she got an idea. "Could you try and keep the guild as quiet as possible today, Mira? I don't want the noise getting into the infirmary and scaring Rio again."

I smiled, pleased that there was something I could do for the poor dear. "Of course! I'd love to." I looked down at my hands and realized that I still hadn't handed over Laxus's food. "Here, you should take this to Laxus while it's still hot."

"Thanks Mira!" she said taking the food. Her short arms made me think she should maybe take two loads but she managed somehow. "I'll see you later, okay?" she called over her shoulder.

"Good, I'll see you then," I promised. As I watched her go, I worried. It wasn't pleasant to worry but sometimes I couldn't help it. I had captured and interrogated Lucy yesterday afternoon after the screaming had started and she had explained about Laxus and Master's relation to Rio. And that made me worry, not just for Rio, but also for Laxus. How was he holding up with all these changes? Is he up to the challenge of caring for someone like Rio? She needed some serious TLC, that much was obvious. While I knew there were few places with as much 'Love' and 'Caring' as Fairy Tail, I couldn't help but question our ability to be 'Tender'. It was not usually a word that applied to us. Usually I thought our daily and sometimes twice-daily brawls were fun, but it wasn't a good environment for Rio to recover in if she was afraid of people and loud noises. I hoped that she would be okay.

After hearing her screams yesterday I had gone to bed only to have them return to me in my dreams. It had seriously scared me. And the worst part was that if I was that scared just listening to her scream then poor Rio must be even more scared than me to scare like that. I wanted to go to the girl and pull her into a hug, but Master had forbidden entry to the infirmary without permission and Rio would probably be scared being hugged by someone she didn't know. I sighed. I got the feeling it would be a long day.

* * *

**-Laxus POV-**

When Wendy came back with the food the smell alone made my stomach growl. Mira's cooking had always been the best, and I hadn't eaten since yesterday so I couldn't help it. Unfortunately, the noise seemed to wake Rio. She didn't seem scared through, just confused. She sniffed the air and her stomach growled too. I laughed, but she paled.

"T-that wasn't me!" she stammered. She looked afraid.

"It's okay," I assured her. "Half the food's for you anyway." The looks she gave me made me feel both depressed and angry for different reasons. Rio was confused, then when she it dawned on her that I was serious, she became surprised and alarmed. I even saw suspicion flit across her face, which she had to forcibly suppress. It hurt a little that she didn't trust me, but I had to put myself in her shoes. She'd probably never had a decent meal in her life and now some stranger said he'd share with her. I wasn't really a stranger, but she didn't know that. She'd been asleep while we were talking about that so she didn't know. That was going to be an awkward conversation. I could kind of understand why Gramps had never told me. Until yesterday, it would never have mattered.

While I was lost in thought Wendy had set up a collapsible table next to the bed and piled on the plates. "Alright," she said, apparently happy that Rio had woken up and was going to eat something, "Mira made omelets, bacon, sausages, potatoes, toast, chocolate chip pancakes, waffles, and cereal. You can take your pick or just have some of everything," she seemed to be mostly talking to Rio, confirming that she could eat without consequence, "Oh, and there's both coffee and OJ, so you can take your pick."

Rio looked slightly overwhelmed, but happy about it, like she didn't quite understand why this was happening but certainly wouldn't complain that it had. The smell of food was calling me, so I started eating and nudged Rio to do the same. She tried some of everything and then looked ready for seconds, which Wendy brought without being asked. I was glad Rio was eating. She was too thin. Wendy seemed pleased too. I realized that she hadn't eaten either and gestured for her to dig in which she did happily, though she didn't eat more than a normal human.

* * *

**-Rio POV-**

Did I understand why I was allowed to eat so much good food? Nope. Was I complaining? No way in hell. I didn't want to miss this opportunity. I don't think I'd ever felt quite so happy. That safe feeling still hadn't left me, even though I was awake. There was so much food and the people I was with smelled safe and they didn't seem to want to hurt me. It was really nice and I refused to compare it to other memories. I didn't want darker thoughts ruining this moment for me.

My instincts told me that I could trust these people, and, despite a scared little voice at the back of my mind, I decided to listen to them. I trusted my brother and that had been worth it. I'd trusted Mosoroth, which hadn't ended well, but bought me at least a brief window of happiness. The voice in the back of my head didn't want to trust anybody, didn't want to get hurt again like I had when Mosoroth left me or Ray died, but I didn't listen. Even just a little happiness was better in the end, right? I think I said something like that to Laxus yesterday, and I had really thought about it. Was it better to be alone forever or to be happy for a short time and brokenhearted for the rest of my life? I would choose happiness.

I was still scared. Scared of getting hurt. Of being alone. Of what might happen. But I didn't want to be. My memories of being strong and rebellious, before it was beaten out of me and my brother, have always been a source of pride. I wanted to feel that way again. I wanted to fight back when someone called me names and kick open doors for the hell of it and break things without being afraid of everything. I used to feel like that all the time. When I wasn't so scared of the consequences, I used to be like that too. I hadn't even noticed that the temptation had disappeared until just now. It had become automatic for me to obey and conform and to shut up and take it and to cower and fear. I wanted my old self back. And I couldn't help but hope that these people would help me. That Fairy Tail would help me.

* * *

**-Freed POV-**

I came into the guild early today to see- I came early because I felt like it.

"Good morning, Mira," I greeted her as I came in. As always she was already behind the bar. "Have you heard how Laxus is doing?" I asked. I couldn't help but be worried about him. He meant a lot to me and I was concerned last night when Wendy said that he would be in a lot of pain when he woke up.

"Wendy says he's doing much better today and I've already sent him two mountains of food so that means he still has his appetite. Master is still saying no visitors in the infirmary through after everything that happened yesterday. Only Wendy's allowed in, and that's just because she's needed for healing. Master is being very protective."

"I understand his reasoning," I said, "I just hope that Laxus will recover soon."

"Mee too," MIra agreed, "Him and Rio."

"Rio?" I asked. "Are you talking about that girl who was possessed before?"

"Yes, you left early yesterday so you missed it," Mira informed me. "She had a panic attack yesterday when Team Natsu and a few others broke into the infirmary demanding answers. It was horrible. I could hear her screaming and-" Mira set down the glass she'd been cleaning and hugged her arms across her chest. "It was horrible," she said, "She went on about how she didn't want to be hit and she kept apologizing, it was horrible, like she was practically begging for her life." She shook her head. "I can't imagine what that girl's been thought to be so scared. I know Natsu and the others aren't the quietest, but they would never hurt her."

Seeing how concerned she was I quickly changed the subject. "Why did they break into the infirmary?" I asked. "Did Natsu challenge Laxus to a fight again?" I added suspiciously, "It would be cowardly to attack a man in his weakened state!"

Mira's smile returned and she laughed slightly. "No, that's not it," she said. "Apparently they were spying on a conversation between the Master and Laxus. And do you know what they heard?" she leaned forward conspiratorially. "Apparently Rio is the daughter of a mage named Magda. And Magda was Master's second child. Which makes Rio…"

My eyes widened in understanding. "She'd be Laxus's cousin," I realized, "And Master's granddaughter."

"Exactly!" Mira nodded and returned to cleaning her glass. "So you can see why Natsu and the others freaked out. They don't react well to surprises…" Mira's voice trailed off and her frown returned. "Apparently neither does Rio," she muttered.

I fought the urge to put a hand on her shoulder and lost. "I'm sure the girl will be fine," I said, though I honestly had no idea. "Anyone related to Laxus and the Master is bound to be strong." She shivered under my hand.

"You didn't hear how scared she was, Freed," she whispered, looking down. "I honestly had nightmares last night over how terrified she sounded. I'm really worried about the girl."

"Don't be," I tried to reassure her. "She has Laxus. I'm sure Rio will be fine."

Mira looked up and smiled at me. "Thanks Freed," she said. It made my heart warm a little.

* * *

**-Lucy POV-**

I groaned as I pulled myself up to the bar. "Mira?" I whined. She set a milkshake down in front of me.

"I know," she said, "here. This will make you feel better."

I actually managed a small smile. My stomach was still hurting from where Laxus had punched me yesterday. I still can't believe he did that. I mean he was possessed and all, but it was hard to believe that a mage as strong as Laxus could just get controlled like that. I mean, I know Master had said that it was impossible to resist but I still had trouble actually believing that. I occurred to me how much of an ego blow Laxus must have taken after being defeated by a necklace. I snorted over my milkshake.

Then I wondered how Laxus was taining the news about having a cousin. Was he happy about it? I just hoped he didn't reject her. She really needed someone to be there for her and it would help for it to be someone related to her by blood. Then again, everyone in Fairy Tail is family. No matter what, we had already decided to be there for her. I had already decided to take her shopping when she felt up to it and I hadn't even heard her name yet. I smiled to myself. Yeah. The girl would be alright.

I was startled to realize that Laxus had emerged from the infirmary. "Hey Mira," he said, "could you get me some more food?"

Mira smiled and laughed as she went to get it. "You already ate a mountain of it this morning!" she said. "I would think even you would be full by now."

"Nah, Rio ate half of it," he waved her off. "The girl's got an appetite like any other dragon slayer, that's for sure."

"Rio's the girl right?" I asked,turning to him, "She's a dragon slayer too?"

He looked at me, apparently surprised that I was sitting there, like he hadn't noticed me. "Yeah," he said, "she is."

"Oh? What element is she?" Mira asked.

"Water."

"Isn't that great?" Mira said happily, "Now our guild has another dragon slayer!"

"I am absolutely not letting her out on missions," Laxus said firmly, quickly cutting off whatever daydreams Mira was getting into. "Definitely not. At least not yet," he amended, "She's much too fragile right now."

Mira and I 'aww'ed at the same time. Laxus looked at us like we were crazy. "That's just so sweet," I said. "So you like her, huh?"

Laxus looked confused. "Of course I do. She's my cousin." That only made me and Mira 'aww' again.

"Anyway," Laxus said, changing the subject, "I just came out real quick to make sure that everyone's okay. Wendy said that nobody got hurt but I just wanted to be sure."

"Well that's not true," I informed him irritably, "You punched me in the gut, like, really hard. And it really freaking hurt! I went home yesterday and had a giant bruise all across my stomach! I'm just glad that I crashed into Droy and not something dangerous like a wall or Erza." Laxus sighed in relief. I could see how worried he'd been, but I wasn't letting him off the hook that easily. "And I'm pretty sure you hit Bixlow in the face!" I added indignantly.

Laxus started smiling at my outburst. "I'm glad everyone's okay," he said. Apparently me being punched in the gut and sent flying across the room didn't count as getting hurt and I'll admit, by Laxus's standards that wasn't much. Laxus stopped smiling suddenly, head swiveling around. He pushed back from the bar and quickly marched toward the infirmary door without saying anything to either of us.

"What was that about?" I asked.

Mira frowned. "Dragon hearing," she muttered. "Something must be wrong with Rio again.

My eyes widened and I stared at the door.

* * *

**-Rio POV- -Some Time Ago-**

Wend left to go talk to someone named Charle. Apparently they were friends. I tried to understand that. Charle would probably worry about her friend. At least I think a friend would do that. I couldn't be sure. I was a tiny bit jealous, but I suppressed it. Of course Wendy had friends besides me. Anyone would. Then Laxus left too. He said he'd be back in a minute and that he just wanted to check and be sure that he really hadn't hurt anybody while he was possessed. And I understood that, really I did. I remember times when I'd wake up in pain and terrified because there was blood on my hands. I could never remember where it was from or what I'd done or who I'd hurt, but I would be scared and sometimes I'd hate myself. The only way for me to get the blood off my hands when I was chained up in that room had been to lick it clean, which was horrible and disgusting, but it was better than having dried blood on my hands. It was hard to get blood out from under my nails.

I looked up then and realized that I was alone. I had a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. No, no Laxus said he'd be right back. No, I wasn't going to be left alone. No. I hadn't been abandoned. Not this again. I don't want to remember!

_I was crying in the woods, stumbling around blindly, not paying attention to where I was going. "Mosoroth!" I screamed, my voice cracking, "Mosoroth where are you? I don't want to be alone again! Please come back! I'm sorry! Whatever I did I'm sorry! Please don't leave me alone! I don't want to be alone!" But he didn't come back. Because he was gone._

_I stumbled into a town, still calling for him, tears pouring down my face. Some people just stared at me. Some told me to shut up and be on my way. Nobody offered to help. I was only dimly aware of them. I didn't care what these cruel humans had to say to me. It didn't matter._

_A hand closed around my wrist. I turned to see who it was. My mother. Lady Magda. In the flesh. I was horrified. What was she doing out in a town in broad daylight? Why was she here? She smiled at me smugly. Then she issued an order. I hadn't noticed them, but the others were there as well. "Destroy it all," she ordered. "I don't want a single male soul to leave this place alive. If any women fight back or try to defend a male then kill them too. They're beyond saving."_

_I was trembling. I tried to run, too scared of what would happen if I lashed out with my magic, but my mother's grip was like iron. There was no getting away. I couldn't get away and I was scared. My mother grabbed my jaw and turned my head to see what was happening in the town. I squeezed my eyes shut, but I could still hear the screams. "Don't close your eyes," my mother ordered. I didn't open them. "Don't make me threaten you," she warned, "I will carry out my threats, I just don't want to be bothered to think up what will scare you at the moment." I opened my eyes. And I watched._

_Archana waved her long, pointed fingers and her spiders swarmed over someone and I saw him writhe on the ground as they bit him and I saw him die. Iuliae cast a spell and I saw a magic circle appeared under a man's feet. I saw him scream in pain when she snapped her fingers I saw his arm snap backwards. I saw it happen again. I saw them lay waste to the entire town. I saw so many people die. And when it was over my mother knelt next to my ear and whispered, "I'm so glad you survived, Rio. It was so tiresome searching for a suitable puppet. You always did fit me so nicely, like it was meant to be." She let out a very evil sounding giggle. Most people wouldn't think giggles could be scary, but my mother had perfected a scary giggle. "Do you know why it's so funny?" I didn't answer. "It's because you came to me. All by yourself. It was fate. You were meant to be my puppet forever." She stroked my face. I couldn't move. I still hadn't managed to look away from the carnage, from the corpses. I think a tear may have fallen from my eye but I couldn't tell. "I'm so glad it was you that came back. My pretty little puppet. I do so hate wearing ugly faces, but yours is so much like mine. I won't ever let anyone hurt that pretty face."_

The memory left me. I was shaking. I curled up into a ball and started rocking back and forth. I tried to suppress a sobb. I lifted a hand to claw at my face. I hated it. I hated looking like her. I hated my blood. I hated my family. I hated it so damn much. But I hated myself above everything. "No!" I said aloud, but it was no more than a strangled whisper. "No, no I don't want to be. I don't want to be alone! I don't want to be here! I was supposed to die too! Why can't I just die?"

Laxus slammed the door open and I jumped backwards. He looked angry. I think I trembled even harder. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry." He slams the door behind him, more quietly this time but I still flinch back. Laxus marches over to the bed and pulls me into his lap. I'm still shaking and I can feel tears falling and my head is spinning. I'm scared.

* * *

**-Laxus POV-**

Damnit! I turn my back for one stinking minute and she's already like this. The worst thing about it is that this is my fault for leaving her alone. And there's nobody I can punch. I'm used to the kind of problems that I can just punch or electrocute and they'll go away. But Rio didn't have that kind of problem. I couldn't punch it and make it go away. So I did what I could.

She was still shaking and crying as I held her. "It's okay," I told her. "It's okay, I'm here. Nobody's going to hurt you." I promised. It took her a while to calm down. I just kept stroking her back and telling her it would be okay. It seemed to help. Once her shaking had finally subsided I asked her what happened. Rio looked up at me and started shaking again as she tried to make herself speak. I hugged her face to my chest. "It's okay. You don't have to look at me," I told her, "Just tell me what's wrong."

She took a shaky breath. "I'm sorry. It was just a flashback. There's nothing wrong." Rio's voice sounded painfully small.

I growled. "It's definitely not alright if you're this scared," I told her. "I won't leave you alone anymore, will that help?" she nodded against my chest slowly.

"I'm sorry," she muttered sleepily. "I didn't mean to. It just happens sometimes. I'm sorry." I think she fell asleep then. I sighed and lay back down on the bed, keeping Rio in my arms and pulling the blankets over her. She seemed to have a habit of falling asleep after she cried. I think it wore her out. I sighed. I had meant to say hi to the Raijinshuu while I was out there so they wouldn't panic but my visit had been cut short. I didn't blame Rio thought. I should have made sure Wendy was with her before I left, then maybe this wouldn't have happened. I should have known Rio would get scared being left alone in a strange place. She still didn't quite trust us yet and I couldn't blame her.

What had she meant when she'd said it was 'just a flashback'? It obviously wasn't just anything. I wondered if the same thing had happened yesterday when she was under the bed. If I had come back sooner would I have seen her sitting with her eyes wide open and breathing fast like Wendy had described last night? How often did things like this happen? I held Rio a little closer to my chest. I wanted to protect her but I couldn't protect her from her own mind.

I sighed. I just didn't know how to help her yet. I would talk to someone tomorrow, possibly Wendy or Gramps, and get advice. I didn't like the idea of swallowing my pride like that, but for Rio I was willing.


	5. Chapter 5

**-Laxus POV-**

I still hadn't fallen asleep. I was too worried about Rio. That, and it was the middle of the day. It wasn't really time for sleeping. Rio must be really exhausted from crying, her stamina was probably pretty low too. The door opened and I hugged Rio to my chest, but relaxed when I saw it was just Gramps. I wasn't sure who I thought it was Rio needed protecting from in the Fairy Tail infirmary but it certainly wasn't Gramps.

"How is she?" he asked.

"Better, I think," I wasn't really sure though. "Wendy and I managed to get her to eat something this morning. Wendy also insisted on brushing Rio's hair. She seemed pretty nervous about it but I think she calmed down when she realized Wendy wouldn't hurt her. Rio had another panic attack but there was no screaming and she fell asleep right after. It wasn't as bad as the first time."

* * *

**-Master POV-**

I wasn't sure if I should be worried that Rio had another panic attack or relieved that she hadn't started screaming again, both for her sake and that of the guild. When I left the infirmary yesterday I was bombarded with questions and concern. Almost everyone in the guild wanted to storm in and check on her or ask what happened. It took me quite a while to quell their concerns and convince them that it would be best to leave Rio alone for now.

"Do you think that she will wake up again soon?" I asked.

Laxus shrugged. "I dunno. She wore herself out pretty well," he said. He looked at me. "About her being my cousin," he said, "I think we should tell her sooner rather than later. I don't want her thinking that she's going through this on her own."

I nodded. I approved of Laxus's reaction to this whole situation. He had come a long way since the Thunder Palace Incident and I was glad he was giving value to his family. I actually think he was handling all this better than I was. I still hadn't come to terms with what Magda had done, much less the fact that I suddenly had another grandchild. Not that I wasn't glad, I was, but it was muted by the horror of what Magda had done and the life my daughter had chosen. My own daughter. I wasn't being as caring towards Rio as I wanted to be, but I also didn't know how. "We will tell her when she wakes up then," I said. "She needs to know."

"To know what?" Rio mumbled, stirring in Laxus's lap. She rubbed one eye, trying to wake up properly. She tried to suppress a yawn and failed. "What's going on?" she asked. I heard the hint of fear in her voice, despite her attempt to hide it. I was going to slowly broach the subject, but Laxus just went right out and said it.

* * *

**-Rio POV-**

"Your mother Magda was Gramps's kid," Laxus said. That didn't compute. Didn't Lady Magda simply spring up from some sort of primordial ooze or something? Laxus continued, "That makes Gramps here your Gramps too. And it makes me your cousin."

I stared at him. My brain hadn't gotten that far. It didn't make any sense. "B-but I don't have a family," I protested. "If I did-" I don't know what I would have done if I had a family. Fought back? Run away? Surely I would have done something different. I would have tried harder.

"Hey, hey it's okay," Laxus said. He touched my face and wiped away tears I didn't know I had. "It's okay. I've got you." He hugged me and I tried to shrink into his chest. It felt much better to be getting a hug. "It's alright," he said, "I'm not going anywhere. I promise." And it was the promise that really got to me. The last time anyone had made me a promise that wasn't a threat- The memory seized me with such violence that I gasped.

_"Rio, I promise you won't die. I promise you'll be okay. Do you understand?" he asked._

_"I'm scared Ray," I said, my voice shaking almost as much as my red, ice cold hands. "She's gonna catch us. I don't wanna be caught again. I don't wanna go back."_

_"I know. It's okay. But she will catch us if we don't cross this river. I know you're scared but you'll be okay," my brother looked me in the eye and added, "I promise."_

_My barefeet and ankles were freezing in the snow. Our breath was coming in short, frigid white puffs. We were standing on the banks of a frozen river. There was snow everywhere but the ice was clear. That meant it had frozen after the snow had fallen. I didn't know how long it had been since it last snowed. The river was wide, about as far across as the room Ray and I had just escaped. If we could cross this river, if we could get away there was supposed to be a town on the other side. We might be able to hide there._

_I took a deep breath and grasped my brother's outstretched hand. I was more afraid of going back than I was of going forward. He took the first step onto the ice slowly, inching his weight onto it, testing to see how strong it was. The ice held. Our progress was slow, checking each step before putting our weight down, slowly sliding one foot in front of the other. Sometimes the ice would make slow rumbling noises or it would gurgle, reminding me of the frigid water that was still flowing underneath. When this happened we would both freeze, completely still, hoping against hope that it wouldn't break before summoning our courage and moving forward another half step. Ray never let go of my hand. I was glad for that._

_A small crack appeared under my brother's front foot. We both froze. Several painfully hard heartbeats passed. Ray let out a breath. The crack returned, louder and wider than before. Ray pushed me forward and I landed on the snowy bank ahead of me. I heard the ice cracking and there was a splash. Nobody cried out. I turned slowly, afraid of what I might see. I didn't see anything. Ray wasn't there. In his place was a gushing hole in the ice. Ray was gone._

* * *

**-Laxus POV-**

One second Rio is crying into my chest and the next thing I know she freezes. I pull away to look at her, concerned. What I see doesn't settle my nerves. Rio's eyes are wide open unseeing and her breathing is short and shallow. Gramps got to his feet, apparently uncertain of what he should be doing.

"Wendy?" I hear myself call, "Wendy come now!" She charges through the door and is at Rio's side in an instant. Wendy took her pulse at her neck and checked her eyes. Frowning, she held small glowing hands on either side of Rio's head.

"There's nothing wrong with her," she muttered, alarmed, "I can't find the problem."

"Do you know what's going on in her head?!" I was trying not to yell at the girl but it wasn't working very well.

"I don't know what's happening!" she cried, "I think she's caught up in a memory or a hallucination or something! I don't understand what's going on!"

"Calm down." Gramps ordered. He didn't raise his voice, but his tone commanded attention and obedience. Wendy and I stopped yelling, but we certainly weren't calm. My instincts were going crazy, telling me that Rio was in danger. Rio was in danger and I had to do something. And there was nothing I knew how to do. I could tell Wendy was struggling with the same problem. "If there is nothing we can do then we must wait," Gramps explained with extreme calm and patience. "Wendy, is this the same thing that happened before?" he asked. She nodded, not taking her eyes of Rio who was still in my lap. "Then it will probably end soon," Gramps concluded. "Worrying will not help her, in fact it might just make things worse when she wakes up." Curse Gramps and his stupid logic. I couldn't worry and I couldn't do anything else either.

Suddenly Rio gasped like a diver coming up for air and started clawing at my chest frantically. I could tell that she didn't recognize me and was scared out of her mind. "No!" she screamed, "Give him back! Give him back! I'm sorry! It's my fault!" Rio flailed and scrambled and tried to get away. I grabbed her wrists in one hand. Rio flinched automatically and squeezed her eyes shut, bracing herself for a blow. I hugged her to my chest, effectively pinning her to me.

"Rio, Rio calm down," I urged her quietly, "You're safe now. Everything's going to be okay."

She pulled back for a second. "Laxus?" she croaked, finally having recognized me. Immediately she smashed her face back into my chest. "Please don't leave me alone!" she cried, "I don't want anyone to die anymore! Please don't die!"

I honestly had no idea why I might be dying or what had happened in that head of hers, but I promised her anyway. "I certainly won't die. I'm not going anywhere. I promised that I'd stay with you didn't I? You don't need to worry about me, alright?" Rio nodded into my chest but didn't say anything. "Are you good?" I asked, "You calm now?" She nodded again. I looked up briefly. Gramps and Wendy were staring at Rio intently, as if she might lose it again at any second. I decided to ignore them. "Rio? Can you tell me what just happened?" I asked cautiously. "You started staring into space and you couldn't hear us. I was really worried."

She looked up at me and then back down to her lap then back to me. Rio took a breath like she was about to say something before slamming her jaw shut and looking away. "I, I'm sorry I scared you." she said.

"I don't care about that," I told her. The last thing I wanted was for her to start blaming herself so I had to choose my words carefully. "I just want to make sure you're okay," I told her, "I'm not mad or anything."

Rio nodded and bit her lip. "It's something that just happens sometimes. I get memories. They just kind of sneak up on me I guess."

"How long has this been happening?" Wendy asked. "I've never heard of anything like this happening."

"I dunno," Rio said, staring at her hands as she knotted and unknotted her fingers. "A while I guess. Since I got recaptured I think. I dunno how long ago that was though."

That wasn't very specific. I thought of something. "How long was your hair back then? Compared to now I mean." She gestured to a point just below her chest, part way up her ribcage. Now her hair was down around her hips. I don't know how long it would take for her hair to grow that much but I knew it was a long time. Years at the very least. I got the urge to punch something but there was nothing to punch so I held back.

"I think we should call for Grand-Porlyusica," Wendy corrected herself. "She knows more about these things than I do and she had more experience than me. I think that would be best," she told Gramps.

"Yes, perhaps you're right," he agreed. "But do you think that she would be willing to come with how much she hates humans?"

"Who's Granny Poryloosika?" Rio asked.

I snorted at her mistake but nobody bothered correcting her. "She's a friend of the guild," I explained, "Some kind of super-healer, but she's a recluse and she almost never comes out of her tree in the woods."

"She lives in a tree?" Rio asked.

"It's a big tree," Wendy defended, "I mean it's like a house on the inside."

"Oh," Rio muttered. "Okay. I think I get it."

"Anyway," Gramps said getting us back on track, "Do you think she would come or would we have to take Rio to her?"

I saw Rio pale slightly at the thought of marching out of the infirmary to meet new people but I decided that was just something she would have to face eventually. If she was going to stay at Fairy Tail, which she was, I would see to it, then she would have to get used to people. Lots of very weird people.

"We should ask her to come and if she won't then we'll have no choice. It's not a hard trip," I assured Rio. "But there's no way I'm just letting this one slide," I explained firmly, "I don't like you disappearing on me like that."

"I'm sorry," Rio muttered.

I sighed. We really had to work on her confidence. "It's okay. It's not your fault," I told her. "None of this is your fault."

* * *

**-Rio POV-**

Laxus had a habit of telling me things that made me happy. "You're not a burden." "It's okay." "Your mother Magda was Gramps's kid. That makes Gramps here your Gramps too. And it makes me your cousin." "I'm not going anywhere. I promise." "It's not your fault."

Was it selfish of me to want to stay near him? I mean, he said he was my cousin, and that made me really happy, but did I really have the right to just stay by him? Because I wanted to. Laxus made me feel safe. Safer than when I was with my brother, chained up in that room. Safer than I felt with Mosoroth, training out in the forest. I felt safest here, with my family at Fairy Tail. I had decided to trust Laxus and the rest of Fairy Tail, but that didn't mean that I had to be under their feet about it. I didn't want to get in anybody's way.

"Rio?" Laxus asked, looking down at me, "Are you alright?"

I looked up, "Yeah, I'm okay now. Flashbacks just freak me out is all." I realized that Wendy and Master (or should I be calling him Gramps?) had left. They probably did that while I was spacing out.

"Do you want to tell me what happened?" he asked. He wasn't pressuring me or anything, he just wanted me to open up. I could handle that.

"Since I got here I've had some of the bad ones," I admitted. "Not because of Fairy Tail or anything," I added quickly, "I just mean that they've happened and-" I realized I was babbling, "So yeah." I hesitated. "But um… there was the time Lady Magda beat Ray instead of me because I told her I wasn't scared. That was pretty bad. And the time Ray died. We were running away and we had to cross the river and it was covered in ice and when it broke he pushed me and I was okay and he was just gone. And while I was sitting there staring at the hole in the ice I realized that he had only promised that I would make it and that's why I was freaking out about you dying so sorry about that."

Laxus hugged me again. I decided I liked hugs. "It's okay. I understand. That would be pretty scary." He tucked my head under his chin. It reminded me how short I was but I didn't mind. "What about the third time?" he asked. "What happened then?"

"It was right after Mosoroth disappeared. I had wandered into some town looking for him. I was really scared and not paying much attention to where I was going. And Lady Magda found me and-" I shuddered.

"It's okay," he said, "You don't have to tell me."

"No," I was determined, "I want to. Just give me a minute." I swallowed. What would he think of me, being so useless like that? No, it didn't matter. Laxus ought to know just how useless I was. It was only fair. I took a deep breath. Here goes nothing. "Lady Magda found me and I got recaptured. But I couldn't figure out why she was in a town. She never went anywhere in person other than the bathroom so it made no sense." Laxus chuckled at that, making me bounce slightly in his lap. I took what comfort I could from that. "She was there to give orders," I remembered, shuddering. "I had to watch the entire town get demolished and so many people died. And she was talking to me the whole time and saying… _things_. And- and-" I couldn't finish. I'm not sure when I started shaking but I had and I could feel tears on my cheeks. But I deserved it. I had to finish. "And I did nothing," I whispered. "I just stood there and watched." There I said it. I was a coward and pathetic and useless and I couldn't do anything right.

Laxus clutched me to his chest. I think I felt the air squeeze out of me, but I was too surprised to care. "I'm so sorry you had to go though that," he said softly. He sounded like he honestly regretted it. "You should never have had to see any of that. I will never let anything like that happen again."

"But I didn't do anything," I mumbled, "I'm useless and I'm weak."

"You are not useless," Laxus said firmly. I could tell he was trying not to be angry. He pulled me back to look me in the eyes. "You are not useless," he repeated. "Anyone who can go through all that is strong, no matter how scared they are. Do you understand me?" he asked. "I don't want you looking down on yourself all the time. You're my cousin."

I nodded slowly. It was odd to be getting encouragement from someone. Laxus was the third person in my life to do anything like that. It felt nice.


	6. Chapter 6

**-Rio POV-**

Laxus said I said I should join the guild. I thought that was a good idea because it would be a good excuse to stick around without making me feel like a freeloader. Unfortunately, he insisted that I get my guildmark in the main guild hall and not the infirmary. This would involve leaving the infirmary. Which was scary. I had heard all kinds of yelling and breaking things on the other side of that door over the past two days. Who knew what was happening out there?

I looked at Laxus. "Are you sure it's okay?" I asked nervously. "I don't want to-"

"It's completely fine," he cut me off. "Don't worry, the guild will like you. Trust me. They're friendly. Some of them are even a little too friendly."

I gulped. Over-friendly people. That wasn't very comforting. I stared at the door. It gloated back at me, like it was daring me to approach. I could hear voices on the other side but I didn't care what they were saying. If I wanted to join the guild and stay with my cousin then I had to open the door. I managed to take a few steps forward and lift my hand to the knob. I noticed my fingers were shaking. I'm pretty sure the rest of me was too. Turning the knob, I was startled when I heard it click slightly but I managed not to back away. I gulped again. All I had to do was push the door open. It shouldn't be that hard. I gave myself a reassuring nod and shoved. It banged against the wall on the other side, making me jump backwards. I would have landed on my ass if Laxus hadn't caught me. I noticed the noise had died out in the guildhall when I banged the door and tried to back away behind my cousin. Laxus put a hand on my back and slid me forward. I as officially in the main room. Only by a few steps but it was a big difference from the infirmary.

Why were there so many people here? And why were they all looking at me? Well, I guess it makes sense because I did attack them a while back and I guess that's a little awkward- but it wasn't really me so it didn't really count. But they knew it wasn't really me right? No one had ever actually said that it had been explained. Maybe they thought I would attack them again… This was really awkward.

I should say something. What do normal people say in situations like this? I don't think normal people get in situations like this. I gulped nervously. These people were Laxus's friends. They couldn't be that bad. Oh! But I couldn't say that out loud. It would be weird. I'll just go with something simple. "H-h-h-h," I had to stop and try again. "H-h-hi?" There I said it! Damn that was harder than it had to be. Curse my stuttering. Nobody said anything for a second. I don't think I had ever seen so many people in my life.

I'm pretty sure I was hyperventilating. Oh geez. I don't think I can handle this.

* * *

**-Laxus POV-**

Well okay then. Rio had scared herself so badly that she passed out. Naturally I caught her before she could hit the ground but I was still a little bit worried. Half the guild rushed forward, trying to see if she was okay and ask what was wrong.

Wendy jumped in front of us, arms outstretched doing her best impression of a wall which, considering her size, wasn't very good but it got the job done. "Crowding her won't help," she scolded. "Everybody just calm down and go back to what you were doing so we can give her some space." There were grumblings and concerned glances but eventually Wendy managed to clear them out. I would have helped, but I suspected that I would end up yelling and I didn't want Rio to wake up like that.

"Is she going to be okay?" Freed asked me quietly once everything had calmed down. He looked concerned.

"Yeah, she'll be fine." I told him. "She's just scared is all. That was a lot to ask of her all of a sudden." I felt a bit guilty for making her enter the guild so soon and pushing her so hard, but I also wanted her to get used to life at Fairy Tail, not life in the Fairy Tail infirmary. She would have to adjust eventually and the sooner the better.

"And you're feeling better too, right?" Freed asked.

"Of course I am," I scoffed, "There was never anything wrong with me in the first place. Wendy's just paranoid," I dismissed as we started making our way to the S-Class balcony. There was more space up there and fewer projectiles so I thought that Rio would rather be up there when she woke up.

"Well I'm glad you're back," Bixlow said. He stuck out his tongue. "Because earlier you punched like a girl! It was pathetic!" I decided not to be offended by that. I had been possessed by a woman after all… which I just realized sounds really creepy.

"Doesn't that just make it even more humiliating that you were sent flying by that girlie punch?" Evergreen asked, interrupting my train of thought. "I can understand Lucy going flying because she's tiny but you should be embarrassed."

"I'm sorry," I heard Rio's voice. I hadn't noticed her waking up in my lap.

"It's okay," I told her, "None of that was your fault."

* * *

**-Freed POV-**

Rio. Is. Adorable! She's so small and shy and she looks like a mini-Laxus.

* * *

**-Evergreen POV-**

Aww, she's so pretty and cute. I love her hair. Rio looked like she needed a hug. I held myself back thought. She might get scared if she got hugged by some stranger. Rio tried to hide behind Laxus's arm, but as small as she was it still wouldn't work. Cute. I resolved to buy her a stuffed animal later. I don't know why, but I got the feeling that she would like it and it also might make her even cuter than she already is.

* * *

**-Bixlow POV-**

Why is she staring at me? It looks like her eyes will pop out of her head. Maybe it just means she likes me. Or maybe she's scared of me? I don't know how to tell. I hope I'm not scaring her.

* * *

**-Rio POV-**

How can anybody stick their tongue out of their face that much? And why did he get his Fairy Tail mark there? Did it taste like ink when he got it done? Could he still use those taste buds or did they not work anymore? Did he even realize that he was sticking his tongue out?

I realized I was staring and quickly looked away. He probably didn't like getting stared at.

* * *

**-Mira POV-**

I nearly had a heartattack when the poor dear fainted. I smiled when Freed asked if she was okay but he didn't notice. I didn't mind though. I'm sure he was just worried about Rio. It was sweet. As I watched Laxus cary Rio up the stairs, I comforted myself knowing that I at least would get to meet Rio sometime today. Master had said that she would be joining Fairy Tail which meant I would get to give her her guild mark. She might still be scared, but at least I would be able to say hello.

When she had entered the room I noticed that she was badly in need of new clothes. And probably a shower too but I was just guessing. I decided to mention it to Freed next time I saw him. Lucy was probably closest to Rio in body type, maybe I'd ask her about lending Rio some of her cloths. We could worry about taking her shopping later.

A new thought occurred to me. Where would Rio be staying? She had slept in the infirmary since she got here but she could hardly stay there forever. I suppose she could try and bunk with Laxus, but no that wouldn't work because he and the rest of the Raijinshuu stayed in the male dorms, excepting Evergreen of course. The best solution would probably be for Rio to get a room in Fairy Hills. We could also get her her own apartment but she might prefer to be closer to the other guild members. I decided that I would ask her what she wanted later when she got her mark.

* * *

**-Lucy POV-**

KYAH! I was still freaking out about how cute Rio was. She was just so adorable. I never thought the word 'hi' was cute but with the way she said it it totally was. And when she had tried to hide behind Laxus and he had pushed her forward- oh my gosh, it was like she was a little lost duckling. She had trembled slightly which made me feel kind of guilty, but like the rest of the guild I didn't want to say anything or do anything that might scare her so I kept quiet.

I glanced up at the S-Class balcony where it looked like Rio was just waking up again. I turned to Erza. "Do you think she's okay up there?" I asked, "I mean she looked pretty scared."

"I'm sure Rio will be fine, Lucy." She assured me but I noticed she was worried too. "She has Laxus with her and he will definitely take care of her. It was probably just too much for her to handle all at once."

Natsu, being an idiot, changed the topic almost entirely. "Wendy said something about her being the water dragon slayer. I want to fight her! I bet my fire would win!" Erza and I hit him over the head at the same time. Gray just glared at him like he was a moron, which he was.

Happy frowned. "I don't think it would be fair to fight someone who just got out of the infirmary," he said. "You should wait at least a week before asking her to fight." I decided that Happy was also a moron.

"Laxus would probably kill you for even thinking about it," I informed them.

"I'll fight Laxus too!" Natsu shouted. Erza knocked him out. Gray and I nodded in agreement.

"He needed that," Gray mutters and I can't help but agree.

"Gray, clothes," I mutter, glancing at him. Then I start wondering why he's always so surprised that he's not wearing them. Shouldn't he have gotten used to it by now?


	7. Chapter 7

**-Laxus POV-**

"Rio, this is my team," I tell her. She sticks a hand out from her semblance of a hiding place and waves slightly. "You can't meet them properly if you're hiding," I add patiently.

Rio peeked out from under my arm. "H-hi," she squeaked.

"Hi Rio, I'm Evergreen." Ever was crouching slightly as she spoke so they were at eye level. That way she wouldn't seem so tall and, hopefully, she would be a little less scary to the girl. Rio gulped and timidly extended a hand. Ever smiled and took it. I could tell she was trying not to hug Rio because it would startle her. I was grateful for that.

"My name's Freed." He held out a hand and Rio took it slowly. I noticed her hand was shaking slightly but she did it anyway. He smiled, I think he was glad that she wasn't too scared of him.

"I'm Bixlow," Bix said, "and these are my babies!" "My babies! My babies!" Bixlow's stupid dolls repeated. Sometimes I felt like I lived in an echo chamber hanging around him all the time. Rio flinched when the creepy flying dolls talked but I don't think she was actually afraid, just startled. It was progress.

Rio stared intently at Bixlow for a second and gulped again. I was starting to think that it was a way for her to gather her courage. "Wh-w-why do y-you stick y-your t-tongue out l-like that?" she asked timidly.

Everyone burst out laughing except for Bixlow. He opened his mouth like he was actually going to answer her question before frowning and scratcing the back of his neck. "You know I'm not actually sure," he admitted. He thought for a moment before announcing quite proudly, "I have no idea!" before sticking his tongue back out. It really was a strange habit. We were all still laughing and Rio was trying to decide whether to laugh along with us or to hide from all the noise.

I took it as a good sign that she didn't hide automatically, it meant, at least to some extent, that Rio was getting along with the Raijinshuu. She was still too scared to say much for herself but she listened to what we were talking about and stopped flinching quite as badly whenever anybody moved. She kept watching Bixlow's 'babies' as they flew around and repeated things. I think she found them entertaining. Freed let his normally formal exterior fall slightly which I think helped and Ever had to constantly restrain herself from touching Rio. She had a habit of getting attached to cute things and apparently Rio qualified. I didn't mind them having a connection but I didn't want Ever trying to hug her just yet. I thought that might be too much too soon and I didn't want Rio to be scared of my team.

* * *

**-Freed-**

I was relieved that Rio didn't seem overly intimidated by us. She was still timid, but she seemed determined to get over it and to interact normally. Rio couldn't seem to decide if she wanted to get up and explore or hide and never come out, but she was obviously making an effort to connect. I could tell she was curious too. Her big deep blue eyes were everywhere, trying to look at everything as she clung to Laxus. It was kind of strange to see Laxus coddling her and allowing his arm to be used as a teddy bear, but it was also kind of cute. I had seen Laxus's nice side before, but never quite like this.

"Hey Rio? Do you want to go get your guild mark now?" Laxus asked once Rio seemed to have fully recovered from passing out and was comfortable enough listening to us talk. She swallowed nervously. Part of me wanted to tell her that it was okay, we could do it later, but I understood Laxus's reasoning. It was important for Rio to adjust as quickly as possible and eventually she would have to be able to do things on her own.

"Don't worry," Ever assured her, "It's easy."

"All you have to do is go downstairs and talk to that woman at the bar, the one with the white hair," Laxus instructed, pointing. "It won't take you long."

"You don't need to be scared, Mira is very kind," I promised, "She won't hurt you."

Rio swallowed and slowly stood up. Bixlow put a comforting hand on her shoulder. She jumped at first but quickly relaxed and offered him a small, grateful smile. She swallowed again and started trudging towards the stairs, talking little baby steps. We tried not to watch her too carefully, knowing it would make her uncomfortable, but we mostly failed, myself included. I wanted to see how well Rio interacted with Mira.

* * *

**-Rio POV-**

I gulped, standing in front of the bar. I was trying not to stare at the floor and instead face the white-haired woman in front of me but it wasn't working for me. "Hi! I'm Mira," she said, startling me slightly. I managed not to jump back or cry out but I still flinched. I'm sure she noticed but she didn't acknowledge it. "You're Rio, right? It's nice to meet you."

I nodded sheepishly, still not quite able to look her in the eyes. It had been one thing talking to Laxus's team. I'd had my cousin right there and he'd said that they were his friends so I knew they couldn't be that scary, but I knew nothing about Mira. She could- no. She was probably not that scary either. Freed had said that she was kind. That was a good thing. I had to remind myself that she was part of Fairy Tail, a legitimate guild, and that there was absolutely no need to sprint in the other direction the way I wanted to.

"Where do you want it?" Mira asked. I managed to look her in the face, my confusion clouding my fear. She had a kind face, but I didn't manage to keep eye contact for long. She smiled, apparently understanding. "Your guild mark," she explained. "Where would you like it to be?"

"Not on my tongue!" I quickly gasped out.

Mira smiled again. I got the feeling that it was something she did a lot. That was a good sign. "Don't worry, I won't mark your tongue," she promised. "How about we put it on your arm, okay?" she offered.

I nodded and did my best not to shake as I held out my right arm. Mira held up a stamp and I winced, bracing myself. There as a cool, smooth surface pressed against the inside of my wrist for a second before it pulled away. I opened my eyes and glanced at my wrist. There was the Fairy Tail mark, in dark blue against my skin. I poked it suspiciously. It was kind of pretty. "That didn't hurt," I muttered. I realized that I'd said it out loud by accident and looked away quickly.

Mira frowned. "Why would getting your guild mark hurt?" she asked.

I hesitated. Did I really want to explain? But she deserved an answer, so I decided to show her. I lifted the hem of my tank top just enough to show the mark under my belly button. Mira gasped. I looked up. There were tears forming at the corners of her eyes like little pearls. Next think I knew she'd pulled me into a tight hug. "Eep!" I cried out in surprise. When I didn't try to pull away Mira squeezed me tighter. "Um, uh, i-it's okay. I-I've healed s-s-so…" Mira was still holding me. It was getting kind of awkward. I gulped. "Y-you can l-let g-go if-f you w-want n-now," I offered. It was as close as I could get to asking her to let me go.

"I'm sorry, I just felt the need to do that," she explained. I looked down, embarrassed. It was just a hug so why did I have to be such a coward about it? Mira broke the silence before it could get awkward. "Can I get you anything? Food? A drink?"

I hesitated. Was it really okay to accept? Then it occurred to me that I had probably already accepted food from her, if indirectly, so I shrugged it off. "W-w-wat-ter?" I asked. Normally I would take the food too, you never knew where your next meal was coming from, but with how nervous I was I didn't think I'd be able to keep it down for long so I didn't bother. Mira set a large glass of water on the table and I took it, chugging it all in one go. Out of the corner of my eye I saw her eyes steadily widening. I set the now empty glass on the table.

"Would you like another?" she asked. I nodded. In the end Mira had to refill the pitcher, twice. "You were really thirsty weren't you?" she asked, amazed.

"I-I-I'm t-the w-w-w… the w-w-wa," I gulped. "W-water d-drag-gon s-s-s… drag-gon s-s," this wasn't working for me.

"The water dragon slayer?" Mira asked, brightening. I nodded shyly. "Oh no wonder then! Wendy mentioned that being possessed wiped out your magic. That makes sense." I just nodded again, not sure what to say, or try to say. Mira seemed to notice my discomfort. "You can go back to your cousin now," she offered. "It was nice to meet you Rio. It will be nice to see you around the guild." I nodded and left, doing my best not to sprint.

* * *

**-Laxus POV-**

Rio returned and crashed into my chest. I gave her a tight hug. She deserved it after all. Mira wasn't a very scary person, thankfully, but making Rio talk to her by herself had been a big step forward. I was proud of her. There was something bugging me though. "Hey Rio? Why did Mira hug attack you all of a sudden like that?"

Rio bit her lip and stared at the ground. She played with her fingers in front of her, knotting them together and pulling them apart. "N-n-o r-reas-son," She was stuttering again. I had noticed that she didn't stutter anymore when she was talking to me, but now that it was back… she was nervous.

"Don't you dare lie to me," I said, not to threaten her but because I wanted her to be straight to me. Mira was a huggy sort of person, so it might have been nothing, but judging by Rio's reaction that wasn't the case.

Rio glanced up at me then back to the floor. "M-my old m-m-mark," She mumbled. Even with my dragon hearing I barely heard it.

"What about your old mark?" I asked, knowing that no one in the Raijinshuu would have been able to hear her. Rio looked like she was trying to shrink in to the floor, but I didn't take the question back. I had to know. She gulped and lifted a hand to play with the hem of her shirt. "Rio?" I asked, reminding her that we were still waiting on her answer.

Rio gulped again and lifted the bottom of her shirt, revealing her stomach. I growled at what I saw. I was mildly aware of Freed and Bixlow gasping in surprise. Ever immediately glomped her, pulling Rio close and smothering her with her chest. Thick, white scar tissue traced across her lower abdomen. I recognized the mark, vaguely. There was a spear with wings pointed upward being driven though a heart. Nobody had heard of the guild in years: Valkyrie. How dare they so much as lay a hand on my cousin?! Rio couldn't have done anything to deserve that! Did Wendy have the ability to heal scars? I decided to ask her later.

* * *

**-Bixlow-**

Rio was branded! Someone had literally burnt that mark into her skin! It was no wonder she was so scared of everything! Who wouldn't be after something like that? And she had been with those people for years. Ugh! I felt like punching something, preferably whoever had done this to someone as sweet and helpless as Rio. I could only imagine how angry Laxus was. She was his cousin. The others looked just as mad as I did. I sensed my babies swarming angrily around my head but made no motion to calm them.

* * *

**-Freed-**

Whoever had done this to Rio was going to die. If I didn't get to them first, then Laxus or one of the others would. Right now Evergreen was too busy hugging the poor girl and offering sympathy, but later the anger would kick in. I knew her. She was a part of the Raijinshuu. Outrage was a perfectly natural reaction to something like this.

* * *

**-Evergreen-**

My poor little baby! Why would someone hurt anyone as cute as Rio? She was like a sweet little pixie! I can't even imagine how much something like that would hurt. I don't want to either. Who would put such a mark on her pretty pale doll-like skin? Who would dare hurt her?! I'd rip them in half!

* * *

**-Levy POV-**

I looked up from my book, alarmed. "Hey, Lu," I asked.

"Yeah?" she asked, clutching her milkshake contentedly.

"Is it just me or is there an evil aura coming off of the S-Class balcony?"

Lu glanced up and shrunk back almost immediately. "There most definitely is Levy," she decided quickly returning her attention to her milkshake. "What do you think they're so mad about?" she asked.

"I can't tell from here, but there's no way that they're actually mad at Rio." I hesitate and think it over. "Rio must have said something about her past that's got them all worked up. They're probably just being protective."

"I wonder what she could have said," Lu says staring off into space, lost in thought.

"I don't know," I admitted. I hated not knowing things. "But whatever it was," I added, "I'm glad it's not me they're mad at. I almost feel bad for whoever pissed them off so badly."

"No kidding," Lu agreed, sipping her milkshake. "I barely won against Bixlow that one time but trying to fight all of them at once? Pfft. There's no way anyone could survive that." I just nodded in agreement.


	8. Chapter 8

**-Evergreen-**

Rio apparently trusted me enough to sit on my lap. I was pleased, it meant that she trusted me close to the level at which she trusted Laxus. Rio adjusted slightly and I squeezed her again. She wasn't very heavy, even considering how small she was; she needed to eat more. Laxus, the rest of the Raijinshuu and I were having a conversation about nothing in particular, mostly just to keep the pressure off of Rio, who would comment occasionally. As we talked her stuttering got better until she could speak almost normally. Rio was smiling slightly. She had a sweet smile.

I was still pissed about the mark on her stomach, but I did my best to hide it. I could tell the others were doing the same. Rio didn't yet know us well enough to tell that we were still angry, which was a good thing. Even though it was for her sake, she had still gotten frightened. I didn't want her to be scared of us. As the conversation wore on, Rio started nodding off, her head would slope to one side before shooting back up and her eyes were half closed most of the time.

"Hey, Rio, are you tired?" I asked, "You can go to sleep if you want."

"No, I'm fine," she mumbled, "I'm just not…" Her head slanted to one side and she fell asleep against my chest. In the middle of a sentence.

"That was adorable," Freed muttered accidentally. He immediately blushed and tried to cover it up.

"Yeah, isn't she cute?" I asked, half to tease him and half because it was true.

"Is that supposed to happen?" Bix asked frowning. "Is it normal to fall asleep like that?"

"She's done it before," Laxus said shrugging, "I'm not that worried about it."

"Should we let her sleep here or get her to a bed?" I asked.

"I've got her," Laxus said as he stood and lifted his cousin up out of my lap and into his arms. She really was so much smaller than him. He carried her down to the infirmary and tried to lay her on the bed but she latched onto his arm in her sleep. Laxus carefully tried to disengage her grip but it didn't work. He gave up when Rio started mumbling in her sleep, not wanting to wake her up.

"Apparently I can't leave," he announced quietly.

"It's fine Laxus. We'll see you later," Freed said.

"Take care of your cousin," I told him. "I'm going to go buy her a stuffed animal. I think she would like one." Laxus nodded in agreement.

"You just think it would make her even cuter," Bixlow accused. "Take care of the kid," he added on his way out, "She probably just needs to take a nap." "Take a nap! Take a nap!" his babies echoed. I still found that annoying.

"Thanks you guys, I'll see you later," Laxus promised. I left, wondering what kind of stuffed animal Rio would like. Maybe a bear?

* * *

**-Lucy POV-**

I was sorry to have missed the opportunity to talk to Rio, but she seemed to be adjusting well to the Raijinshuu. I had been tempted to go over to her when she was talking with Mira but thought better of it. If she was shaking when talking to just Mira, then she definitely wasn't ready to talk to me, not with the risk of the rest of my team marching along for the ride. Later, when Laxus carried her back to the infirmary, I noticed that her hair was already messed up again. It had been brushed when she first left. I frowned. That should be easy enough to fix. She just needed to braid it. I looked up when Ever was leaving the infirmary.

"Ever, do you want to help me go shopping for Rio with me?" I asked. "Mira pointed out that she needs cloths and I was thinking that I could do that since I've got free time."

"I was already going out to get her a stuffed animal since she doesn't have any," Ever replied, "I'd be happy to come."

"Are you guys sure you should go shopping without Rio?" Levy asked. "I don't want to buy her anything she won't actually want to wear."

"Oh maybe you're right," Ever agreed.

"It's decided then," I said, "Once Rio's up, we're taking her shopping!"

* * *

**-Laxus POV-**

As much as I loved my cousin and respected her need for sleep, I also needed food. I hadn't eaten since breakfast. Rio would have to wake up eventually. I gently nudged her. No response. I nudged her again, "Rio," I whispered. No response. I tried to get up but she was latched onto my arm too tightly. There was no way that was going to work. I lay back down and stared at the over-familiar ceiling. I'm sure it was taunting me.

Rio made a noise in her sleep. It sounded like a whimper. She clung to my arm tighter. "Hey, Rio, It's okay. Just wake up," I said. She flinched in her sleep. "It's okay. You just have to wake up. I'm right here." I assured her, urgency sneaking into my voice, as I tried to shake her awake. "Rio?" She gasped awake, breathing hard. "Hey, you're okay. It's okay now. You're safe. I've got you. Don't you worry. I've got you."

"I'm sorry," she squeaked, "It was just a nightmare." Despite her words she was clinging to my shirt like her life depended on it. Whatever it was, it had scared her.

"It's okay. I was already awake," I told her, "What happened? Do you want to tell me about it?"

"I really hate spiders," she said.

Well I wasn't expecting that one. "Any particular reason or is this just something you randomly felt like sharing?" She actually punched me in the arm, not very hard and it didn't hurt in the slightest, but I was glad. It meant she trusted me enough not to hit her back, not that I ever would, but she was still figuring that out. "But seriously, what freaked out out so bad?"

Rio hesitated. "T-there was a woman at Valkyrie, called L-lady Arch-chan-na," she began and I knew I wouldn't like where this was going. "Her magic used s-sp-pid-ders to att-tack people. A-and I know that does-sn't sound s-s-so scary b-because they're so sm-mall, b-but it's r-r-really scary when there's a l-lot of-f them an-nd they're all-l over y-you and t-touching you w-with their legs and y-you'v-ve g-got to-o cov-ver your m-mouth t-to keep them-m out a-and you can't-t-tell which on-nes are poi-oisonous and y-you know y-you're gett-ting-g bi-bitten b-but-t-t you c-can't te-ell wh-what-t's g-goin-ng to h-happ-pen an-nd i-it-t h-hurt-ts."

Rio was shaking quite badly now. I knew she was stuttering not because she was scared to speak in front of me but because she was that scared of that woman- the very thought of the woman. I squeezed Rio to my chest. There was no way I would ever let Archana or anybody else touch her ever again. Not while I was here. "It's okay," I told her, although I didn't know what part of this was okay. "You're okay now. I've got you." I was getting quite accustomed to comforting Rio. She stopped shaking. "Come on, let's get you some food." I said, "It'll help you to eat something." Rio nodded and followed me, not letting go of my hand.

* * *

**-Elsewhere- -Iuliae POV-**

"Our Lady," I reported respectfully. "Your property had been located."

"And where was it?" Lady Magda asked, not turning from her view out the window.

"A guild located in Magnolia, Fairy Tail. Apparently she has not strayed far from where you lost her."

I sensed Lady Magda's mood turning fowl but ignored it. I didn't care what this woman with her prettily curled blonde and red-streaked hair thought. "It just had to be them," she scorned, rising to her feet angrily, habitually smoothing out her long blood-red dress. I waited patiently for the monologue that I knew was coming. Lady Magda had a habit of speaking aloud when she was agitated. "Fairy Tail," she began, "I won't let you take what's mine away from me. She is my property, in every sense of the word. I will take it back and take my revenge while I'm at it. Afterwards I might even destroy Raven Tail just for the hell of it." Lady Magda let out a giggle that would have scared a normal person. I was not intimidated. "I will make all those horrible males pay! Each and every one of them!" she squealed gleefully.

"Shall I go Lady?" I asked, hopeful of the chance to get at the little bitch. I had always wanted the chance to break her personally. It was an indirect way of breaking one of the Lady's toys. I did so enjoy such things.

"No," Lady Magda ordered, quelling my hopes. "Send Archana. I'm sure she won't mind."

"Understood Lady," I backed out of the room without presenting my back to her. She was weak, but I accepted her as guildmaster anyway. I had no desire to rule in her place, dealing with quarrelsome, spiteful underlings. So disobedient. As long as I could enjoy myself, I didn't care how influential I was in our little group.

"Archana, you have orders," I informed her, coming into the dimly lit main hall.

"Not interested," she replied, examining a spider on the tip of her finger. It was small and likely poisonous. I didn't care.

"If you don't want to, I'll go," I offered teasingly, "You're to hunt down the Lady's bratt. I know you hate her just as much as me."

Archana looked up. Black eyes shining with a terrible gleam. Her sickly black-green hair flopped over one eye, hiding the maniacal grin which I knew was spreading across her face. "You aren't fucking with me are you?" she asked.

"She's in Magnolia. The guild is Fairy Tail," I told her and she stood to leave, dark green dress dragging out behind her as she walked because it was longer in the back than the front. I never understood her sense of fashion, nor her habit of having minimal civilian casualties. She claimed it was an assassin's mentality. I just thought she was too lazy to go on a proper massacre. "Remember she's no use to Our Lady if she's dead," I added in a sing song voice as Archana walked away.

"Oh I know, but it won't matter if my children bite her a little bit, now will it?" I grinned. She may be lazy when it comes to killing, but she was just as sadistic as me, if not more so because her powers allowed her to work more slowly. I sighed, wishing I had been allowed to go instead. Sometimes I thought Archana got all the good missions.


	9. Chapter 9

**-Natsu POV-**

Luce plopped down next to me, disappointed and cradling a milkshake. She sighed, obviously upset about something. "What's up Luce?" I asked her.

"The girls and I want to take Rio shopping but we can't- not until she wakes up anyway," she said.

I paused. "I can hear voices in the infirmary but they're too far away for me to make out what they're saying," I told her. "She should be up soon."

She perked right up. "Really?" she asked.

"Yeah, do you think she's well enough to fight me yet?" I asked. Lucy hit me over the head.

I couldn't understand why. "What was that for?" I asked, indignant.

"You're not allowed to fight Rio!" Luce shouted. "Why are you so obsessed with fighting anyway?" she asked.

"Because he's a moron," Grey supplied, walking up behind her in nothing but his underwear.

"Shut up, ice stripper," I accused.

"Flame freak."

"You wanna fight snow princess?!" I demanded.

"Hell yeah hot-headed idiot!"

"Are you two starting a fight?" Mira and Erza chorused from their respective positions near the bar, a sudden evil aura oozing off of them.

"A-Aye!" I shouted, swinging an arm around Grey's shoulders.

"He means no!" Grey added quickly, an arm over my shoulder in return. "Because we're best friends!"

The aura dissipated. "That's good," Mira said, "because you two especially are not allowed to fight in the guild hall until Rio's gotten used to things. Here's your cake Erza." She nodded in appreciation and returned to our table.

My mood deflated. I sighed. "But I haven't had a fight for a full two days," I complained, "I'm going crazy."

"Then take a job and help me pay my rent," Luce suggested.

"But then I won't get to meet Rio." I pointed out, "What if she gets better while I'm away and I miss my opportunity to fight her?"

"You're not allowed to fight!" Luce shouted, and right in my ear too. I winced. She obviously didn't realize how much that hurt with dragon slayer hearing.

My reply was cut off when I noticed Rio and Laxus exiting the infirmary. Just because I couldn't fight Rio…

* * *

**-Rio POV-**

"Laxus!" A voice shouted, making me jump, "Fight me!" I realized it was a pink haired boy with a white scarf. I vaguely recognized him from before. He'd helped me up that one time… What was his name again?

"Not now Natsu," Laxus said, apparently irritated. "I'm busy."

Natsu ignored him and charged. Laxus hit him over the head, knocking him out. _Wow._ I thought. _Natsu's face, meet floor. Floor, this is Natsu's face- or have you two met before?_ I then realized that I was cowering behind Laxus and my eyes probably looked like they were trying to jump out of my skull. I quickly straightened, hoping no one had noticed. Laxus did but I didn't mind. He put a hand on my shoulder.

"Come on," he said, "We're getting food remember?" I nodded, not sure how well my voice would hold up with so many people in the room. Laxus guided me to the bar with a hand at my back. It made me feel safer while talking to the white haired woman. I remembered her name was Mira.

"H-hello Mira," I said, knowing that I had to get used to talking to people.

"Hi Rio," she said cheerfully, "What would you like?"

"Food?" I asked. I honestly wasn't sure what kind I wanted.

She just laughed and smiled. "As much as you like," she promised. She looked up at Laxus. "But you're still paying for yourself," she added.

"Hey," he complained, "that's preferential treatment. I want free food too!"

Mira just rolled her eyes. "It's not like you can't afford it. You are S-Class after all."

I looked up at Laxus. "What's S-Class?" I asked.

"It means you're one of the more powerful wizards here," he explained as we walked over to a table where we could wait for Mira's cooking more comfortably. "I'm S-Class. Gildarts is S-Class, but I don't see him anywhere. Erza, the red-head over there in the armor, she's S-Class. Mira's S-Class too."

"Mira's S-Class?" I asked, impressed.

"Yep," she chirped, coming up behind me with two large trays of steamy goodness. "Thought I took a break from it for a little while. Here's your food!"

"Yay," I said aloud. Then quickly looked down. Did she think I was being sarcastic? Maybe she thought I was blaming her for not bringing it fast enough.

"I'm glad you're happy," MIra said, smiling brightly. I couldn't help but be a little bit relieved.

"Rio!" Natsu had apparently come around, "Fight me!" he shouted. I probably started shaking in fear but I honestly wasn't sure.

Laxus and Mira were oozing some seriously black auras. I saw some lightning running over my cousin's shoulders like static. As scared as I was of Natsu at the moment, I was more scared of what might happen to him if the S-Class mages decided it was necessary to kick the crap out of him. I found the fastest solution available.

"W-we can-n have an eating contest," I offered quietly, "b-but I don't w-want-t-to f-fight you. O-okay?"

He brightened, having instinctively started cowering from the now fading evil aura that Laxus and Mira had been giving off. "Deal!" he shouted, making me flinch at his enthusiasm, "But I won't lose!"

He sat across from me. "W-what are the stakes?" I asked, faking my stutter. I'm pretty sure Laxus noticed but he didn't say anything.

"Steaks? Are we eating early?" Natsu asked, obviously confused. Who confused stakes with steaks? I decided anyone who didn't understand was probably an idiot, not that I said anything about it of course. I didn't have that kind of guts- not just yet anyway.

"I-if you win," I started, "you g-get my free food for a week," I said. He started drooling at the thought. "And if I win," I almost forgot to stutter and overcompensated, "y-you've got-t-to introd-duce me to y-your friends." I didn't want to actually meet his friends, I wasn't even sure who they were, but I figured it would be good for me. I wanted to stop being afraid.

"Deal!" Natsu shouted. I was starting to get the impression that he shouted a lot. It wasn't very good for my nerves, but I tried to ignore it. He wasn't scary, just loud. I could look at it like training.

"Wait!" Someone shouted, making me jump again. "Who wants to place bets?" I identified the voice as coming from a girl with beautiful long brown hair, practically no cloths, and a barrel full of what smelled like booze. Very strong booze. I instantly liked her. Anyone who understood the value of betting got my approval.

There was a rush to place bets. Laxus glanced down at me and I smirked. I wasn't losing, not when it came to food. Not in a milion years. He grinned and got up. He spoke a few words to the Raijinshuu and placed his bet. Ever and Bixlow followed him.

"Hey Freed?" I asked. He came over. "Will you place a bet for me? I'll split the winning even with you. I just don't like being broke." I explained. Freed gave me a half disbelieving look but nodded. "Don't worry, I won't lose." I promised. "Will you tell Mira for me? I don't want her to lose her bet," I added. He nodded and smiled properly as he walked off. I noticed that he touched Mira's elbow as he whispered in her ear. Were they a couple? I made a mental note to ask Laxus later.

I waited a few minutes for the betting frenzy to die down. "A-are the b-bets set?" I asked the woman with the alcohol. She nodded. I inhaled through my nose and let it out though my mouth. It was time to get serious.

* * *

**-Laxus POV-**

I was glad I bet on Rio. I suspected that she was faking her stutter earlier but I wasn't sure until she gave me that smirk. It said she knew what she was doing. I grinned. Might as well make some money. There were excellent odds going against her. I glanced back. She was fake trembling. I realized that she was skewing the odds against her intentionally so we could win more money. I tried not to grin too much as I told the Raijinshuu to bet on her. Ever and Bix moved immediately, but Freed refused. I assumed it was because he didn't want to act on insider knowledge. I shook my head at his honesty but grinned some more when he spoke to Rio and then whispered something to Mira. Had Rio already figured out that he had a thing for her? I'd ask her later.

"A-are the b-bets set?" Rio asked. Canna nodded. Rio took a deep breath and dropped her facade. The shaking and stuttering stopped. She exuded calm and confidence. I was already proud, irrelevant of whether she would actually win or not. Rio had come a long way in just a few days to be able to look like that with all these people in the room and looking at her.

* * *

**-Lucy POV-**

"On your marks?" I asked, "Get set! GO!" I quickly leapt back, knowing that food scraps would begin flying instantaneously. Natsu and Rio started chowing down. I was shocked to see that Rio was keeping pace with my bottomless-pit-of-a-stomach partner. He'd cleaned out my cupboards at my apartment enough times that I knew he could keep going for a while, so I didn't bother paying too much attention to them for a bit. Everyone else was shouting and yelling and stomping their feet. For a second I was worried about Rio in all this noise but she seemed fine. I guessed that so long as she wasn't startled she was fine- either that or she was too distracted by her need to shovel food in her face. I understood that she was a dragon slayer, but she was also a girl. Could she really keep this up for long?

They kept at it for another twenty minutes without lagging. Some people's enthusiasm had faded and there was less shouting and more awed staring. I heard Laxus chuckle behind me. "What's so funny?" I asked him.

"Natsu's starting to fall behind," he said. I stared in awe. Damnit! I had bet on Natsu's stomach! My rent money!

"That's not possible!" I shouted, but Laxus was right. Natsu was two plates behind Rio and slowing as we spoke. I watched in horror as he bogged down. "My rent," I whined. Laxus just laughed louder. "You knew this would happen," I accused darkly. "You knew!" Natsu collapsed to the floor, stomach distended and part of a steak sticking out of his mouth. "Natsu! No, get back up this instant!" I ordered but he couldn't seem to move. Damn him. He was so going to get it later.

* * *

**-Rio POV-**

Natsu collapsed and the room exploded into cheers. It startled me so badly that I fell off my bench backwards and hit my head a little. Laxus helped me to my feet and I beamed at him. "Good job Rio," he said. I grinned up at him.

Freed handed me my money and I beamed at him too. "Thanks Freed!" I said. He smiled slightly and nodded. I decided not to hug him, he didn't seem to be the kind of person to like hugs anyway so I didn't think he'd be offended.

Evergreen on the other hand hug attacked me as soon as she saw me. "I'm so proud of you!" She half shrieked over the crowed, "I made a lot of money off you! I think half the guild just went broke!"

"I'm sorry!" I half-shouted back. "I just wanted to win!"

"You're fine, kid," Bixlow promised, putting a hand on my shoulder. "Nobody will hold it against you. You did great." "Did great! Did great!" I decided I loved those flying doll things, whatever they were.

Natsu was still passed out on the ground. I worried someone might step on him. Seeing him drool around the steak in his mouth I thought, _Quick! Someone get me a stick! I need to check if he's alive!_ I didn't say that thought. It would probably be rude.

* * *

**-Lucy POV-**

Rio was kneeling with her knees hugged to her chest by Natsu. I knelt across from her. I poked Natsu's face, concerned.

"Don't do that! The smell will get on your finger," Rio protested. Then, realizing that she'd spoken out loud, clapped a hand over her mouth and looked away quickly.

I laughed and smiled, trying to reassure her. "It's fine," I told her, "His smell has probably already rubbed off on my anyway."

"Only a little," she assured me earnestly.

Curious, I asked, "What do I smell like?"

Rio tilted her head to one side, thinking. "Night wind and sunshine," she said. "Also strawberries and vanilla."

I laughed. "I can kind of understand the second two but isn't the first part kind of self-contradictory?" I asked. "How can I smell like night and sunlight at the same time?"

Rio frowned, "It roughly translates into a subtle, patient strength and kindness."

I was surprised. "Thank you," I said, not sure how to respond.

"It's just the truth," she said. "Natsu smells like woodsmoke, but like when it's blowing right into your face and you need to gag on it," Rio supplied, wrinkling her nose. She brightened suddenly. "Hey, I wasn't stuttering!" she said proudly. "You must not be that scary." She smiled.

I laughed. "I'm going to take that as a good thing," I said. "My name's Lucy by the way."

"Rio," she replied, "but you probably already knew that."

"Just a little, but the reminder is always helpful," I joked. Rio laughed a little, but she sounded unsure. I noticed Laxus hovering behind her and nodded at him slightly to let him know I had this. Rio and I moved to take seats at the table which was now covered with dirty dishes. "Congratulations on joining Fairy Tail," I told her, "How do you like it so far?"

"It's big and it's loud but I'm getting used to it and the food is good," she said thoughtfully. "Everyone is being really nice to me and Mira's not making me pay for anything which makes me feel kind of bad but I'll pay her back eventually."

"You shouldn't worry about it," I told her. "Mira's doing it because she wants to, there's no need. I was planning on taking you shopping later with some of the girls." I admitted.

Rio looked shocked. "Really?" she asked. "B-but why? I didn't do anything for you."

I laughed at her response even though I felt a little sad inside because she couldn't understand. "Do you plan on wearing those clothes forever?" I asked. "Besides, I think Ever's planning on spoiling you." Rio still looked confused. "Do you not want to?" I asked. "You don't have to come if you don't want to."

Rio swallowed and nodded slowly. "I'll come," she said determined, but I could tell she was still nervous about it. "Let me ask Laxus, okay?"

I nodded happily. "Sure!"

* * *

**-Laxus POV-**

"Hey Laxus?" Rio asked nervously, "Can I go shopping with Lucy and some others?" She started talking too fast, making my head spin, "Lucy invited me and I really do want to but I don't have to go if you don't want me to so I could just not but-"

I cut her off. "You can go if you want, but only if you promise to stick with them. I don't want you to get lost or something." Rio's face brightened. She lunged me into a hug. "Thankyou thankyou thankyou!" she said. I smiled.

"So you're coming?" Ever asked. "Great! I'm so glad."

"Ever you're coming too?" Rio asked. She seemed happy about it, and that made me happy for her.

"You bet I am!" Ever replied. "And we're not coming back with anything less than nine bags worth of clothes!"

Rio looked slightly intimidated but determined nonetheless. "Right!" she said, nodding firmly.

I was glad that Ever was going. She would take care of Rio in my place. Because I really didn't want to go shopping for girl things. I'd be out of my depth anyway. Part of me was reluctant to let Rio out of my sight, but I knew she would have to be able to go off on her own eventually. She couldn't spend the rest of her life acting like my shadow, it wouldn't be good for either of us.

"I'll see you later Rio," I told her. "Be careful and stick close to Ever and the others, okay?"

"I will!" she promised cheerfully as Ever, Lucy and a gaggle of other girls pulled her away. I worried in spite of myself.

* * *

**-Evergreen POV-**

I was so glad that Laxus was letting Rio come with us. We could have real girl talk and it wouldn't be awkward buying her underthings and such, because she needed those too. And a stuffed animal- whichever one she wanted. Possibly more than one. I met up with Lucy and Levy at the door.

"Who else is coming?" I asked, not wanting too much of a crowd for Rio's sake.

Lucy answered, "Me, you, Levy and Canna- and Rio obviously!" Rio smiled.

Canna sauntered up, barrel of booze traded for a bottle. I guessed there were extras in her bag. "Sorry I'm late," she said, "I had to grab some booze."

"Well come on!" I said. "We're going shopping!"


	10. Chapter 10

**-Rio POV-**

The others dragged me outside like it was no big deal, like they did it all the time. I couldn't help but pause, if only for a second. I could feel the sun on my skin and the wind pulled at my hair. I could smell the sea***** and people and freshly baked bread and flowers and dogs and cats and fish and the summer wind. I was probably smiling like an idiot, standing in the middle of everything and facing the sun, but I didn't care. For this one second I was desperately happy.

"Hey Rio, come on, you're falling behind," Lucy said. "We're on a mission!" she reminded me.

"Right, sorry," I said snapping back into myself, "It's just been a long time since I've actually seen the sun," I admitted sheepishly.

Levy frowned. "How long?" she asked.

I shrugged. "Not sure. About the same time my dragon Mosoroth up and disappeared on me. Years."

"The dragons disappeared in X777," Levy murmured. She looked up at me. "You've been imprisoned since then?" I nodded. She blanched slightly. "That's a long time," she said simply. I nodded again.

"Hey cheer up, you're making my booze taste bad," Cana said. "We're here to shop not mope!"

"Canna's right," Lucy said. "Let's go and have fun!"

* * *

**-Lucy POV-**

"Oh this is cute!" I said, holding up a top. "Do you want to try it on?" I asked.

Rio nodded. "I've got a whole pile of things to try on. You want to come with me?" she asked. I nodded and we squeezed into the changing room, dumping our stuff on the bench.

I pulled off my shirt but saw Rio hesitate, fingering the rim of her tank top. "It's fine we're both girls," I said.

"That's not it," she mumbled. I looked at her. "Promise not to freak out?" she asked me.

"I promise," I said. "What are you so worried about? You can trust me." That seemed to reassure her and Rio pulled off her shirt. I immediately saw the burn on her stomach. "How did you get this?" I asked concerned as I knelt down to look at it properly. "I don't recognize the mark."

"It's the mark of my mother's guild, Valkyrie," Rio replied, voice even. "It was branded into my skin," she added. "It's healed now though so it doesn't hurt."

"Who did this to you?" I asked.

"A scary ass bitch called Iuliae," Rio said. "She's a bit of a psycho." Rio hesitated, "Don't tell Laxus or the Raijinshuu who did it okay? I think they might just charge out and try to rip her limb from limb. You should have seen how pisssed they were…" Her voice trailed off hopefully. She was obviously trying to lighten the mood and I accepted that.

"So that's what they were so angry about," I said. "Levy and I were wondering but we couldn't figure it out."

"Well now you know," Rio smiled weakly. I could tell she was faking but trying and I accepted that. "Which one do you want to try on first?" she asked. I handed one to her. As she turned to put it on I saw cigaret burns on her shoulders but I didn't say anything. I knew she didn't want to make a big deal out of it. I started to remove all the sleeveless shirts from her pile. "It's fine," she interrupted. "I don't mind. I can just wear a jacket if I want to cover them up. And I don't want to hid it."

I nodded. "I guess that makes sense," I said. "Let's talk about something else. This is getting depressing."

Rio smiled slightly. "So how come Natsu's smell had rubbed off on you so much?" She teased. "Him and someone else… winter and cold. Haven't met him yet."

"Y-you mean Grey?" It was my turn to stutter, not out of fear but embarrassment. "What about it?"

"Your face is turning red," Rio observed.

"No it's not!" I protested.

"You're turning redder." Rio remarked. "You're not a good liar are you?"

"Just shut up," I said. "It's nothing. He obviously doesn't feel the same way."

"So you do like him," Rio accused.

I rolled my eyes. She just wasn't letting it drop. "Okay, well, maybe a little," I admitted, trying to downplay it. Rio just smiled. I was glad. She had a nice smile.

* * *

**-Evergreen POV-**

"Okay so which one do you think she would like?" I asked Cana.

"Wasn't this the whole point of bringing her along? So she could choose for herself?" Cana asked and took a swig from her bottle. She realized it was empty and picked a new one from her bag.

"But then it's not a surprise!" I protested. "I want to surprise her!"

"Choose the blue one," Levy ordered, seeing my dilemma.

"But it's so big!" I said, already paying for it.

"She'll love it," Levy said confidently. "Hid it quick! She and Lucy are coming back! We'll show her later!" I stuffed the creature into a bag before it could be seen. I turned around just in time. Thankfully Rio didn't notice.

* * *

**-Rio POV-**

Why was Ever acting so weird all of a sudden?

* * *

**-Levy POV- -Much Shopping Later-**

"So, hypothetically speaking, how would one go about eating this?" Rio asked, giving her ice cream a dubious stare.

I laughed. "You just lick it," I told her. "It's ice cream. You'll like it."

Rio still looked doubtful but she took my advice. "It's good!" she sounded surprised. "I should have known it would be cold because it had the word 'ice' in it," she added frowning.

"It's dripping," I said.

"It's what? Where? What do I do?"

"Just keep eating it," Lucy said, licking her own ice cream, "If you don't hurry it'll melt in this heat."

Rio bit into it and effectively chowed her ice cream in the net few seconds. She clutched her head. "Aghhh… what the hell?"

Everyone laughed. "It's just a brain freeze," I laughed. "That's what happens if you eat something cold too fast."

"Why would you do this to me?" Rio teased Lucy, obviously still in pain but laughing anyway.

"I'm sorry!" Lucy exclaimed. "I didn't know you'd eat the whole thing!"

We were all laughing and eating ice cream, having a wonderful time just sitting on a bench overlooking the canal which led past Lucy's apartment. I smiled. It was nice to see Rio laughing with everyone. Cana had managed to discover alcohol flavored ice cream and was enjoying it quite thoroughly. Ever was offering to buy Rio a second ice cream since she'd eaten hers so quickly but Rio waved her off, protesting that she didn't want another one if it would just give her another headache.

"Finally, there you are you little bitch," a voice said behind us. I quickly characterized it: adult, female, agitated, kind of nasally, I didn't recognize it. "I have been searching this entire town in heels. It's paved in cobblestone, you know that?"

My attention returned to Rio sitting next to me. She'd gone pale and stopped smiling. I noticed her hands were shaking as she clutched the sleeves of her new sweatshirt. Slowly Rio turned around in her seat, like she was afraid to see who she already suspected was there. I turned with her.

The woman was tall, with dirty green hair that covered one eye, cut short at the chin. The one eye I could see was cold, black, and cruel. Her mouth formed a sharp line across her face and was covered with creepy dark green lipstick. Her dress draped down past her hands but had a slit so her fingers could peek out, pale against the dark green velvet-like material which dragged out behind her in a train. She adjusted her hair with one long finger, pushing her bangs behind her ear. I could see a mark on her cheek. She belonged to a guild. Then I recognized the mark and realized she was part of Valkyrie.

"L-lad-dy A-archan-na," Rio squeaked, "w-w-what-t a-are y-you d-doing h-here?"

Archana let out a shrill laugh, making Rio wince. "Lady Magda wants her toy back," she said. "She never said you had to be unharmed."

"Fairy Machine Gun: Leprechaun!" Ever shouted. Beams of light shot past me at Archana. She just stood there. There was a series of small explosions, but when the dust cleared Archana was standing there completely unharmed. There were dead spiders at her feet.

"How dare you hurt my children?" she asked, pouting. She looked up, "Now I'll just have to kill you all," she said, relishing the words.

"You can try!" Cana shouted. "Explosion Cards!" A rush of fire shot towards the older woman.

"Open: Gate of the Golden Bull! Taurus!" Lucy shouted. The giant cow emerged from the ground, mooing something perverted and drawing his axe. "Help me protect Rio!" Lucy begged him.

"Solid Script: Fire!" I shouted.

"N-no," Rio whimpered, covering her head and half-hiding behind the bench we'd been sitting on. "D-don't."

"It's okay, Rio," I said turning my back on what was no doubt a very burnt and very crushed creepy lady by now. "We've got her. You're safe." Rio just looked at me, big blue eyes full of fear. She shook her head slightly. Something bit my ankle and I smacked it. A dead spider fell to the ground, twitching. Another spider crawled over it's body. There were more. I realized that the other girls were shrieking and yelling, trying to swat spiders off their ankles. More spiders crawled up my legs, biting. I cried out and tried to brush them away but they kept coming. Some of them stung like hell, others burnt. I realized there were many kinds of spiders of varying sizes but was more concerned with how many there were, hundreds- no, thousands of them. They had started crawling over each other in their haste to get to me and the others.

Archana was standing unhurt as spiders crawled out from under her dress out out her sleeves. They tangled in her hair and crawled across her chest. She was laughing. "Go my children!" She called, celebrating, "Let's see how long they last until one of my more poisonous ones get them! Won't be long now until one of them collapses!"

My head suddenly felt woozy. "That's not good," I mumbled incoherently before I pitched backwards against the bench. Thankfully I didn't fall on the ground, where I would have been covered with a sea of spiders. I think I blacked out after that.

* * *

**-Archana POV-**

When the little blue haired girl blacked out right in front of her, I saw something snap inside of Rio. It was like something had been pushed off the shelf inside her and shattered, leaving nothing but empty space and jagged edges.

"Archana, stop hurting them," she ordered calmly "You weren't sent here to harm females, you are disobeying Lady Magda's orders." Her blue eyes had gone dark and she was staring directly at me, unwavering.

I suppressed the need to shiver. "And why should I?" I asked. "I'll just tell your mother that they resisted or that there was a male present. She won't mind."

"Archana," Rio said, "you should not have hurt my friends." Water from the canal roared up behind her in a reverse waterfall, towering over her, sparkling in the sunlight.

"Now you just wait a second," I protested weakly, "You wouldn't dare-"

"Dragon Slayer's Secret Art: Water Dragon's Dancing Typhoon!" she shouted and spun. As she did, the water followed her, flowing across her hands and her arms, over her hair in a beautiful arc. Completing the spin, she pointed at me and half the river leapt from her fingertips in a torrent like a firehose and crashed into me. I flew backwards. I don't remember what happened after that.

* * *

**-Lucy POV- -Half Conscious-**

I was covered in spiders, bites and pain. For once I wished I chose clothes that covered more of my body and offered me more protection against something like this, not that I ever could have seen this coming.

"You should not have hurt my friends," I heard faintly. It took me a surprisingly long time to recognize Rio's voice. I'd collapsed onto my stomach somewhere in there but I didn't remember falling.

The sound went first as I fought against unconsciousness. I saw Archana blanch and take a half step back. I saw Rio's feet moving incomprehensibly and I saw Archana blasted off her feet by a jet of water. My vision blurred and I gave up trying to keep my eyes open. I felt something wash over me, it was cool against my skin and felt good on all the bites. I realized the spiders had stopped biting me as I fell asleep. I could practically feel the poison pumping through my system from a hundred different places. It was a relief to lose consciousness.

* * *

*****Okay, according to the map, Magnolia is nowhere near the sea because Hargeon, which is acknowledged as a port town, is in the way. But, if you watch the Phantom Lord arc, there is very obviously a large body of water for the giant robot to stand in. Also, when we get an overview of the guild, we see that it's on the edge of the town against what most certainly appears to be the ocean. So, basically, I've decided that Magnolia is on the ocean. The truth of this fact is debatable but what the hell. It's FanFiction anyway...


	11. Chapter 11

**-Rio POV-**

My face was plastered against a stone floor. I was not enjoying the experience. It reminded me too much of the stone floor in Valkyrie's basement, where I spent most of my life, barring that one year where I managed to run away and train with Mosoroth. Of course, that floor had always been cold and consuming, whereas this floor was warm and smooth. I knew I had to stop following this train of thought before a memory kicked in, so I frantically searched for something else to think about.

I forced my eyes open. Actually, I only managed to get one eye open, the other was held shut by the weight of my face against the stone floor- Anyway, I couldn't see much. Puddles of water in the cracks of the cobblestones, a blurry and distant wall. I looked for my friends but with my narrow field of vision I couldn't see any part of them.

Unable to examine my surroundings properly, I focused instead on examining my own condition. I hadn't been bitten anywhere, that was good. My head hurt slightly from it's sudden impact on the pavement, but not enough to cause concern. The reason I couldn't move was because I'd used up so much of my magic so quickly. It was almost pathetic, to be out of magic after a single attack, but also understandable. I hadn't used my magic- hadn't been able to use my magic really- since I was recaptured. It only made sense that my ability would have atrophied. But I couldn't afford that now.

I had to get help for the others. What if I'd accidentally washed them away with the spiders? They could have drowned or might be drowning and I would just be lying here! I wouldn't let that happen. I tried to move my arm. It responded, if slowly. I tried to push off the ground but my muscles screamed out. I face planted all over again and rested there, panting for a second, gathering my courage before I could try again. I never got the chance.

Large, rough hands grabbed my shoulders and flipped me onto my back, into someone's lap. I didn't bother opening my eyes. I knew that smell, pine forests and coffee, Laxus. "The others?" I croaked out, it made my throat hurt.

"They're fine. Rio what happened? Are you hurt? Rio...?" I blacked out before I could answer his questions.

* * *

**-Laxus POV- -A Few Minutes Ago-**

"Laxus, I'm sure you're worried about nothing," Freed was saying, "We both know you can't be right next to Rio all hours of the day forever, and Ever is with her. Even if something were to go wrong, which is unlikely, Rio would have Ever right there to help."

I sensed something and my head snapped to the West. At first I thought it might be nothing but then I noticed that Natsu, Gajeel and Wendy were all facing the same direction. "That was dragon slayer magic…" Wendy muttered.

"The only dragon slayer not already accounted for is Rio," I realized, jumping the S-Class balcony. "Wendy come quickly!" I called over my shoulder as I transformed into lightning and raced toward the source of the magic. I didn't bother waiting for a reply.

Rio was lying facedown on the ground in the middle of the street, surrounded by water. The others were unconscious too. I lifted her up. "The others?" she asked. I hadn't realized she was awake.

"They're fine," I assured her quickly. "Rio what happened?" I asked, "Are you hurt? Rio, come on, talk to me." I shook her lightly but she didn't respond. I could tell her breathing was regular though so I tried not to panic. It didn't work very well. I barely sensed any magic power coming off of her and she was horribly pale. My instincts were screaming that she was in danger and that I had to do something about it, but as so often happened with Rio, there was nothing I knew how to do.

Before long I heard footsteps racing up behind me on the cobblestone roads. Turning I realized that Natsu and Gajeel had lost their patience with Wendy's pace and the older dragon slayer had thrown her carelessly over his shoulder, carrying her with as much care as he would give a sack of potatoes. Gajeel set her down unceremoniously and she nearly fell on her butt before Natsu caught her.

"Wendy, are they okay?" I asked. "Can you tell what happened?"

"Give me a second," she said. She checked Rio first. "There's nothing wrong with her, she's just exhausted her magic. She'll recover on her own." Gajeel was kneeling by Levy and held her up for inspection. Wendy extended her glowing hands and gasped. "Poison," she murmured, making Gajeel growl, "Give me a moment."

I noticed Levy's breathing even out and some color return to her cheeks. Her eyes fluttered open just in time to have her face crushed into Gajeel's chest. "Don't do that to me, Shrimp," he ordered.

Wendy went on to heal Ever and the others as Natsu asked, "Levy, what happened? What's going on?"

Levy's eyes flew wide as she remembered. "Rio! Where is she?"

"I've got her," I said, "She's safe, she just used up all her magic."

Levy breathed a sigh of relief before panicking all over again. "Where's that creepy lady- Archana?" she asked, "Did she get away?"

I growled. Finally something I could seed out and punch for Rio's sake. "Do you know which way she went?" I asked.

Levy shook her head, "I blacked out," she admitted, apparently embarrassed.

"It's fine Shrimp, as long as you're okay," Gajeel said, hugging her to him again.

"Natsu, can you watch over things here?" I asked.

"I've got it," Gajeel interrupted. "Nothing's getting through here. You two go after that Archana chick and kick the shit out of her."

"I'm all fired up!" Natsu shouted and I had to resist the urge to hit him over the head. He was still pretty annoying.

"Yeah, whatever. She can't have gotten far," I said, "Keep up Salamander!"

* * *

**-Lucy POV-**

"Lucy, are you awake? Lucy?" I opened my eyes to see Wendy looking down on me.

"What happened?" I asked.

I heard Gajeel grunt, "We were hoping you could tell us that."

"You were poisoned pretty badly," Wendy explained, "so was everyone else. Laxus and Natsu are looking for the one who did it. Everyone's recovering though."

My eyes shot wide, "Rio!"

"Is fine," Wendy assured me. "She used a lot of her magic and passed out but she'll get better soon. There's nothing to worry about."

I sighed in relief. "Thank goodness," I murmured. "She's the one who took out Archana. None of our attacks were working because she would block them and we could only hit her spiders. But Rio just blasted her with- something… and she went flying and that's when I blacked out. But she's okay, right? Rio I mean."

"Don't worry Lu," Levy promised, "Wend says she'll make a full recovery."

"Yeah," I said, "But she should never have been in danger in the first place. And, now that it's clear they know where she is, what's to stop them from coming again?"

* * *

**-Rio POV- -Some Time Later-**

Consciousness returned to me slowly, one sense at a time. I could hear voices, but I couldn't seem to focus or figure out what they were saying. Then I could identify the smells: Laxus, Lucy, Wendy, Gramps. I realized my mouth and throat were painfully dry and gasped a little. Breathing hurt.

"She's awake," I heard Laxus say. I tried to speak but it didn't work, just resulting in a weak croak and lots of pain. "Don't try to talk just yet," he told me. I felt something pressed against my lips and tasted water. I downed the whole container before opening my eyes. Everyone was looking at me, concerned.

I swallowed before trying to speak. "Where are the others?" I asked. I didn't see Levy, Evergreen or Cana anywhere, couldn't smell them either.

"Everyone's okay," Laxus promised, "You're the last one to recover."

"Archana?"

He growled, "She got away." He said, "By the time we got there she was long gone, we couldn't find her anywhere and we didn't know what her scent was so we couldn't track her."

"I'm sorry," I said. "I'm sorry."

"You have nothing to apologize for, child," Gramps said.

"But it was my fault," I could feel tears forming in my eyes and running over. "If I weren't here then nobody would have gotten hurt. It's my fault."

"Absolutely none of this is your fault," Laxus said firmly. "If I had been there nobody would have gotten hurt."

"But you didn't know this was going to happen," I protested. "I should have seen this coming. I should have known."

"And what would that have possibly changed?" Lucy asked. "It's not your fault if your parent goes psycho and tries to steal you back. You have a right to be happy. If you are happier here then you have a right to be here, and it doesn't matter what anybody else says. So you tell me: Are you happier here than you were back there?"

"Lucy…" I didn't know what to say. I couldn't possibly be that selfish.

"Answer my question," Lucy demanded, "because earlier you called us your friends and you fought for us so I want you to tell me. Do you want to go back?"

I felt sick at the thought. "No, but-"

Lucy wouldn't hear my protests. "Then you are staying here," she declared, "and you will not wallow in self pity and you will let us fight beside you next time. Okay?"

I nodded. "Thank you," I said. "Thank you." I started crying, but for once it was a good thing. "Thank you." Laxus pulled me into a hug and I just kept crying. I don't remember ever being so shatteringly happy.


	12. Chapter 12

**-Laxus POV-**

As usual, Rio fell asleep after crying. I was getting used to it. She always looked so peaceful when she was asleep. After I had assured Gramps for the hundredth time that I would keep an eye on her and Lucy and Wendy had filed out the Raijinshuu practically broke the door down in their rush to check on Rio.

"She's sleeping," I told them and the three immediately hushed up. Freed looked embarrassed to have done anything so undignified as barging in. Ever looked horribly disappointed and was clutching a large fuzzy bear to her chest. I assumed, or maybe I just hoped, that it was meant to be a gift for Rio and that Ever hadn't suddenly regressed to being a child. Bixlow tried to downplay the fact that he had charged in without thinking by looking anywhere but at me.

"Wendy said she'd be okay," Ever started, "but she should never have gotten hurt in the first place! I was right there and there was nothing I could do. I'm so sorry Laxus, I can only blame myself." She looked practically on the verge of tears.

"It's fine Ever," I told her, "I'm not mad at you. None of this is your fault."

"So the kid's going to be okay?" Bixlow confirmed. "Be okay? Be okay?"

I ignored the stupid dolls. "Yeah, as soon as her magic comes back she'll be just fine. She just used up all her strength is all." I was both surprised and pleased to see how quickly the Raijinshuu had gotten attached to Rio. Ever was one thing, but the other two weren't usually so worried about anyone other than me. I was glad that they liked my cousin, especially seeing as they would be hanging around her a lot.

Rio squirmed slightly in my arms. "Hey, you awake?" I asked her.

"No," she said. "Not if I can help it."

"Not even if being awake means food?" I teased.

"I might be awake," Rio conceded. "A little. Especially if it's Mira's cooking."

"I'm so sorry Rio!" Ever threw herself at my cousin and, indirectly, my lap. It was a good thing I was bigger than the two of them combined or I would have been crushed. "I'm sorry you got hurt!"

Rio yelped and would have fallen back if I hadn't caught her. "It's okay, Ever. I'm fine. I just should've been stronger is all…"

"Hey, remember what Lucy said about wallowing in self pity," I warned. I really didn't want Rio going down that road, not when she'd made so much progress.

"That's not it. I'm not blaming myself. I just…" she trailed off, looking down. I took the opportunity to nudge Ever off my lap and onto the foot of the bed so I could breathe properly before asking Rio what the matter was. "I passed out after a single attack," she mumbled. "It's pretty pathetic of me, isn't it?"

"You haven't been able to use your magic since you got recaptured right?" I asked. She nodded. "That was years ago. Of course your magic depleted if you haven't used it for years. That's not your fault. Besides, all you need to do is train some and get strong again."

Rio looked up. I couldn't tell if she was relieved or excited or both. "Really?"

"Yeah, really," I said. "Besides, you're a Dreyar. There's no way you're weak."

Rio beamed and nodded. "Right!" And that was that.

* * *

**-Rio POV- -That Afternoon-**

I was sitting in my room on my bed clutching my oversized stuffed bear in my arms with my knees pulled up to my chest staring out the window. It was utterly strange. I had owned my own room before, but it was more of a dungeon or a basement and I was usually chained to the wall. I kept touching my ankles to make sure that there was nothing there. I only felt the scars which I'd gotten trying to yank the chains off. The bed was soft and large and bouncy. I looked around the room. There was a desk with a chair in one corner, overhead lighting in case I wanted to stay up past dark, and empty bookshelf against one wall, and, my favorite, a large window. I was on the second floor of Fairy Hills with a view that reached the ocean. I had never had a window before, it was more novel even than having a bed.

From my seat I could see the sunset. It wasn't an overly magnificent sunset, but the sky was tinged pink and the clouds were traced with orange and it made me feel welcome. I wasn't sure how exactly I had gotten my own room at Fairy Hills, but Ever had mentioned it and next thing I knew I was being given the tour. Ever's room was weird and full of slightly creepy statues so I didn't stay long. We met up with Levy and Canna and I got the chance to apologize, but they waved me off and asked if I was okay, which I accepted. I got to see Wendy again which was nice. I met lots of new people I hadn't met before. Everyone was nice, and I liked meeting new people.

Mosoroth had been nice but I hadn't met many new people when I was training with him. There had been that one guy but he hadn't been very nice and I don't think he'd liked me. I wouldn't have fought him if he hadn't- The memory snuck up on me but I didn't mind. It was rare that I got to experience good memories and I liked this one so I didn't fight it.

_"Don't kick the mushrooms," I told him._

_"Why not? They're in my way."_

_"You don't have to be mean to them just because they can't fight back," I scolded. "You're being a bully."_

_"But they're just plants," he kicked over some more. "Nobody cares. They're not gonna fight back."_

_"Just because they can't fight back doesn't mean it's okay to hit them!" I shouted. He was startled by my outburst, especially because up until now I'd only been shy and apologetic, but he became even more surprised when I blasted him with my magic. "Water Dragon's Roar!" he was sent flying off his feet, despite being a head and a half taller than me._

_When he got to his feet I started apologizing, I really hadn't meant to attack him, but he didn't listen and answered with his own roar. Somehow I started fighting, desperately trying to protect the mushrooms and accidentally kicked his ass._

_"What the hell is wrong with you?" he asked, collapsed next to me. "All this for some stupid mushrooms."_

_"I don't like people bullying things. Mushrooms count," I explained, having finally reverted back to my normal self._

_"You're crazy." he told me._

_Somehow that made me laugh. "And you're too violent."_

_"This from the one that struck first."_

_"You hit the mushrooms first."_

_"Whatever," he said. "You're still crazy."_

I returned to myself. I was still in my room, alone, but now happy, and somehow less nervous about spending my first night alone since joining Fairy Tail. I clutched the bear Ever had given me. He was fuzzy and blue and nearly as big as me. I had loved him immediately when I'd gotten him. I'd named him Julius, which made Bixlow laugh for some reason but Freed approved and Laxus said I could name him whatever I wanted so I didn't bother asking Bixlow what his problem was. Ever smiled at me like she'd just done a great deed for the world, which I didn't get but accepted anyway. I rubbed my face into Julius's fur. He was really fuzzy and I loved him. I wonder if Ever knew I'd always wanted a teddy bear or if she'd just guessed. Either way I was happy. I curled up under the blankets and went to sleep.

* * *

**-Laxus POV- -That Night-**

The thunder woke me up. I ignored it and tried to go back to sleep. Something was bothering me though, it was keeping me from going back to sleep. The thunder got louder. What the hell? I'm not scared of thunder- but Rio would be! I bolted out of bed towards Fairy Hills without even thinking, using my lightning teleportation to get there faster. Loud noises, flashing lights, there was no way Rio would be okay in something like this, even with all the progress she'd made.

It wasn't until I got there that I realized I had a problem. Several problems in fact. I couldn't actually enter Fairy Hills because, after the psycho house mother died, they'd installed runes preventing anything male (except apparently Happy) from entering the building. Also, I was in my pajamas, but that wasn't really bothering me at the moment. Another clap of thunder hit and I cursed loudly. I couldn't do anything from here.

I bent, grabbed some gravel and chucked it at a second floor window. I had no idea who's window I was chucking gravel at, but hopefully they'd be able to help Rio in my place. Damnit! My dragon instincts were going crazy now that I realized Rio was scared. I should be there, not out here chucking gravel. I threw another handful of stones and accidentally broke the window with the force of the throw. I didn't really care.

Erza's head popped out of the window, somehow already wearing her armor. Did she sleep in it? "Laxus!? What are you doing?" she had to shout over the storm. The wind was making the rain go almost sideways, half blinding me. At least I didn't have to be worried about getting hit by lighting. I was on a hill after all.

"Rio's scared of loud noises!" I shouted.

"What?"

"RIO!" I bellowed, knowing she had to be able to hear me like this. "RIO'S SCARED OF LOUD NOISES!" Erza's eyes flew wide in realization and her head disappeared. Hopefully she'd get Wendy or Levy to help. Hell, even Cana would do at this point. Damnit! Why couldn't I get in there! I didn't know what was happening to my cousin and it was driving me crazy.

* * *

**-Erza POV-**

I ran to Rio's room, knowing where she was, only two doors down from me. I slammed the door open but she wasn't on the bed. Her blankets were rumpled and strewn across the bed like they'd been kicked off in fright, but I saw no sign of her. There was another clap of thunder and I heard a thump followed by a whimper coming from behind me. I whirled.

Rio was under her desk, trembling and clutching a large stuffed bear for all she was worth. Her back was jammed into the corner and her feet were moving against the carpet, trying to push herself farther back into the wall. I knelt just as another clap of thunder hit, briefly illuminating the room. Rio jumped so badly that she hit her head on the top of the desk and squealed in fright, eyes squeezed shut against the lightning.

I did what came naturally. I requiped into my pajamas, realizing that I was still in my armor, and crawled under the desk beside her. Rio flinched when I put an arm around her, but once she realized I was nothing threatening she relaxed slightly. When the next roll of thunder hit she threw herself in to my lap, shaking terribly. I stroked her back automatically.

"Shh, Rio," I told her. "It's just a storm. It'll go away. It's not going to hurt you." She kept shaking and I kept comforting her. "There's nothing to be afraid of. You're okay." Rio finally seemed to relax slightly at that so I repeated myself. I held Rio as she held her bear the whole night, or at least until the storm passed and we both fell asleep.

* * *

**-Rio POV- -The Next Morning-**

I woke up slowly. I didn't recognize my surroundings. Nor did I recognize the woman whose arms I was sleeping in. I automatically stuttered an apology, reeling back, "S-s-sorry! I-I d-didn-n't mean-!" I accidentally woke her up. "S-sorr-ry!"

"It's okay," she said, still half asleep from what I could tell. "I didn't mind. You were scared, of course I'd help out."

"O-oh," I was starting to vaguely recognize her, or more specifically her smell. She smelled like hardened steel and flowers- no, roses. It was a strange combination but I recognized it from around Fairy Tail. I wasn't sure what to say in a situation like this. "H-hi?"

She smiled. "Hello," she said. "I'm Erza Scarlet. Nice to meet you properly."

"Rio," I felt relieved. She seemed normal and nice like everyone else.

"Yeah, I know," she- Erza Scarlet had a nice smile. She was definitely not scary. Scary people didn't smile. Well, some of them did but creepy smiles didn't count as real smiles. Not kind, welcoming smiles like the one Erza Scarlet was giving me.

"Erm… Thank you, you know, for last night," I said, still uncertain as to how I was supposed to behave.

"Your welcome, but it's Laxus you really have to thank," she said, "I was sound asleep when he broke my window and I saw him standing there in his pajamas barefoot with the storm going all around him, demanded I go comfort you. Men aren't allowed in the girl's dorms or he would have come himself."

"Laxus did that for me?" I asked. Not that I didn't think he would come, but he didn't have to go that far. I hated storm and they scared me but I'd waited them out alone before. Even when I had been with Mosoroth he had just told me that I wasn't supposed to be afraid of a little rain and told me to face my fears. But Laxus apparently didn't want to make me do that. I mean sure, he'd made me face the guild but I could understand that. They weren't scary really. Neither were storms but I just couldn't take what all those loud noises did to my nerves.

"Yeah, Laxus is a good cousin. I'm glad he's got you." Erza said, breaking me out of my thought.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"A while ago Laxus… well he made some mistakes" she said hesitantly, apparently not wanting to go deeper than that. "He hated himself because of it for a little while, but he's back now. I think taking care of you is a good influence on him. I'm happy for both of you."

Well, how do I respond to that? "Thank you?" It came out as a question.

Erza laughed. "You have a good heart," she said. It was a weird thing to say in my opinion. My heart worked obviously or I'd be dead, and what did that have anything to do with this? "We should get ready for the day and go find your cousin. I'm sure he's still worried about your since last night."

"Right!" Erza stood, crawling out from under the desk I'd accidentally forced her to sleep under, and was covered with light. When it disappeared she was wearing armor. I think my eyes might have popped out of my head. "Is that your magic? That was so cool! Do you always do that? Where did you learn?"

* * *

**-Erza POV-**

I was glad to see that Rio was comfortable enough to pelt me with questions. Her stuttering had stopped once I'd introduced myself and she seemed much more at ease. I could barely reconcile this girl with the wide, curious blue eyes with the shaking shivering mess from last night.

Rio seemed to have a debate with herself about whether or not to bring her stuffed bear, whose name was reportedly Julius, to the guild. In the end Julius was left behind because Rio would be training with Laxus and the Raijinshuu today and she didn't want him to get dirty. When she got dressed, I noticed scars on her back and ankles but I didn't comment. I had scars of my own from my time in the Tower of Heaven and I knew it wasn't always best to bring these things up. Rio said nothing, but she gave me a grateful look as we started down the stairs and out the building.

The second Rio stepped out the front door she was snatched up. I almost requipped into my armor before I realized it was Laxus. He was still in his pajamas and still had no shoes. Apparently he'd waited there all night.


	13. Chapter 13

**-Rio POV-**

Being hug-tackled by Laxus may have startled the crap out of me, but I was okay with that. Laxus was freezing cold and his pajamas were still slightly damp. He really must have been out here all night waiting for me. I couldn't decide whether to feel happy or guilty about that. I was glad Laxus cared enough to wait for me like that, but I also didn't want to be a burden.

All this, of course, was going through my head as Laxus crushed me to his chest so hard I could barely breathe and so my feet dangled uselessly some feet above the ground. Laxus inhaled deeply and I knew he was trying to catch my scent and reassure himself that I was okay. I wasn't weirded out by this, being a dragon slayer myself, and weakly tried to hug him back with my hands, seeing as my arms had already been pinned to my sides.

"I'm okay," I promised him. "Erza helped me. I'm okay."

Laxus looked up, surprised. "Erza?" she nodded. "Thank you," he said. "For Rio, thanks." It wasn't the best-constructed of thank yous but with how crazy his instincts must have been going all last night it was the best he could do.

"Rio already thanked me Laxus," she dismissed. "Really anyone in the guild would have done it. By the way, you're paying for my window." I squiggled in Laxus's arms so I could see the building. There was no window two rooms down from me. I just had to laugh.

**-Gajeel POV- -Meanwhile-**

I was listening to Shrimp, still trying to convince myself that she was okay after being poisoned yesterday. It was taking all I had not to just grab her and protect her until I was convinced she was safe, but I held myself back. Shrimp probably wouldn't appreciate that, especially seeing as she was more concerned about Bunny Girl and the others.

"I'm sure Rio's okay, I mean, I saw her yesterday for a little bit and she was just tired not poisoned like the rest of us because they were trying to capture her not kill her but I'm still worried. I know I shouldn't be because she's the water dragon slayer so she should be-"

The thought processed and I think I accidentally swallowed a mouthful of screws without chewing. "The water dragon slayer?" I asked, panicking a little on the inside, "Are you sure it's her?" Oh hell, please say no.

"Yeah, Rio is the water dragon slayer," Shrimp said casually, "Why do you ask?"

"There's no way…" I accidentally muttered aloud.

"There's no way what?" Shrimp was looking at me with those big brown eyes of hers, curiosity stirring. "Gajeel, do you know Rio from somewhere?"

Oh hell! "Uh, no?" I don't think I was lying very well. Shrimp was clearly unconvinced. Actually, I think I'd just made it worse by trying to hide it. But there was no way I could admit… that to her of all people.

Panther Lily wasn't helping. "I've never met her, so you must know her from before you met me," he observed. The traitor was jumping ship.

"So how do you know Rio?" Shrimp asked. "And also, why don't you want to tell me?" Oh hell, there was no getting out of this one was there?

**-Levy POV-**

Honestly, didn't Gajeel know by now that hiding things from me just made me want to know more? He was killing me here! And why? I heard the front doors open but ignored it. What wasn't he telling me?!

"Gajeel?" I heard a voice. Gajeel froze in place, wincing. Every inch of his face practically screamed 'oh shit'. "It is you!" Something slammed into him. That something was as short as me, blonde and happy. It took me a moment to process that Rio had just hug attacked Gajeel, the scariest looking guy in the guild. Then again, she did hang around Laxus so her fear-factor couldn't be closely related to appearance. Then again, who the hell cares why she's not scared of him, she's hugging him! Oh he totally know her from somewhere.

"Hey, Puddles," he mumbled reluctantly, sounding utterly defeated and resigned to a situation beyond his control. "Been a while."

Rio adjusted so her chin was on his chest but didn't stop hugging him. "You got more piercings," she said, "You look even scarier now."

Oh so she did realize how scary he looked. The shock wore off. "Wait, Rio! Where do you know Gajeel from?" I demanded, perhaps a little over enthusiastically, "Spill! Tell me!"

"Uh," Rio hesitated, quelled by my vehemence, "Mosoroth wanted me to train against another dragon slayer so I fought with him a few times as a kid."

"Oh, okay," I thought aloud, "That makes sense. But then why didn't Gajeel want to tell me about it? That's hardly a secret."

Rio giggled and pulled away from Gajeel. "Shut up," he muttered under his breathe, "Please shut up."

My eyes flew wide in realization. "You lost! Rio won! Rio beat you up when you were kids!"

"What?" I heard Natsu's voice coming up from behind me, "Rio beat Metal-Face?! Rio fight me!"

"Nobody's fighting Rio!" Laxus shouted. Rio burst out laughing and the hilarity of the situation struck me. I laughed too.

"It's okay Natsu, Gajeel," Rio squealed out once our giggle fit receded, "I haven't used my magic for years. I'm pretty sure you could beat me easily right now. I'm practically useless right now," she explained.

"But that's why we're training today," Laxus said happily, "Right Rio?"

She nodded. "Right!"

**-Rio Pov- -After a Three-Way Eating Contest Between Rio, Gajeel & Natsu (Rio Won)-**

I'd been to the ocean before when I was training with Mosoroth, but that was a long time ago. I had to resist the urge to just jump in and splash around. Because I was training. This was serious. I wanted to do well… and I wanted to make Laxus proud. I hated how quickly I'd passed out after what could barely be called a fight against Archana. If I hadn't caught her by surprise I don't think I'd still be here right now, so I had to get strong again. Laxus was waiting on the beach with the Raijinshuu, Gajeel (despite his protests that he just wanted to see 'Puddles' look weak), Levy, Team Natsu (plus a creepy stalker girl I hadn't met yet), Wendy and Canna (with her booze). It was something of a crowded audience, but I considered that part of the training as well. If I couldn't use my magic while people were watching me there was almost no point to having any.

First thing's first: How much had my range decreased? I stepped out onto the water (it's easy if you just increase the surface tension) and sent out the message for 'calm'. The water within twenty feet of me went still and flat, rippling slightly at the edges. The ripples meant I wasn't in perfect control of my range so I took the time to smooth them out. I was disappointed both at how long it took and how far my range reached. It used to be I could extend my control almost two hundred feet and the edges would be thin as paper. In comparison, this was pathetic.

It was probably best not to try anything too advanced if this was all I could manage just yet. I shouldn't even dream of activating my Dragon Force in this state, much less even try Water Body or Water Eruption until my range had at least doubled, at the very least. But I could do the practice steps though.

'Lift' I willed. Water droplets slowly floated upward. A few at first, then more. I lifted my hands, wrists draped downward, helping me visualize my magic pulling the water upward. It wasn't really necessary, but at this stage I needed all the help I could get. This was harder than I had expected and my progress was slower than I'd like it to be.

**-Laxus POV-**

While the actual amount of magical power Rio was using was pretty low for a dragon slayer, the absolute control she was using was impressive. That much control took an iron will and unwavering concentration. Fortunately for me, lightning dragon slaying magic needed only vague directions to work properly, but apparently water dragon slaying magic worked differently. Rio's magic was woven into every droplet of water within her sphere of control, which extended some distance down underwater too. I would have been satisfied to just see how long she could hold such an intense magic, irrelevant of how much power she was using, but Rio didn't appear pleased. She actually looked disappointed, which in and of itself was slightly remarkable. To have enough concentration to spare on facial expressions was impressive, plus it meant she could usually do better than this.

Next thing I know the water starts lifting itself into the air, droplets at a time, then splashes, followed by small streams. The water collected in a constantly moving, shifting ring around Rio. She frowned and clenched her hands into fists. The ring smoothed itself out, becoming immobile in the air. She held it here, perfectly circular and perfectly still. Magic, particularly dragon slayer magic, was not easy to keep in one place. By its very nature, magic flowed and changed, constantly shifting. Keeping Rio's magic still like this… it was incredible. The mental capacity and complete control it would take to do something like this was beyond me. Once Rio got her full magic power back, she would be a force to be reckoned with. I was proud. She was a Dreyar after all.

**-Gajeel POV-**

Damn it all. Puddles showed up. For a long time she'd been the only one able to beat me. The only other person who'd beaten me had been the Salamander, but he'd gotten lucky mostly. Puddles had actually won back then, and she had every right to. Just because her power was low now didn't mean it wouldn't come back soon. And then I might have to watch my bullying. Puddles wouldn't fight seriously just because she was challenged or even because someone attacked her, but if she decided someone was in danger (or even some mushrooms) she got crazy as hell.

**-Lucy POV-**

Rio was really amazing. I didn't know much about dragon slayer magic, obviously, but I could tell by the way Laxus and Gajeel's eyebrows were slowly sneaking up their heads that what she was doing was impressive. Natsu was frowning.

"What's wrong?" I asked him.

"I don't get it," he mumbled. "That's not attack magic," he complained. "How is she supposed to be able to beat Metal Freak with that?"

"Because she's just warming up," Gajeel answered. "Puddles isn't taking this seriously just yet. She's still testing her limits."

Gajeel was right. Something was happening. The, for lack of a better word, 'donut' of water Rio had suspended in the air started to spin, slowly at first then faster. It began to elongate and expand. Rio twisted with the water, turning at the same speed, letting it dance over her shoulders. "Dragon Slayer's Secret Art: Water Dragon's Dancing Typhoon!" she shouted and the water roared forward, shooting over her fingertips out towards the ocean. I vaguely recognized the same move she'd used against Archana. The shot rushed forward over the ocean, picking up mass and momentum as it flew, before dissipating some several hundred feet away. "Tch," Rio scorned, apparently disappointed, "It was supposed to be bigger than that." she rested her hands on her knees, panting heavily, still standing on the water although the patch of stillness had gone down dramatically. "At least I didn't pass out this time though," she muttered.

We were all frozen in semi-shock semi-awe. Rio let out a magical blast like that and she was disappointed! Little, fragile, scared Rio who hated loud noises and couldn't take too many people looking at her was a freaking magical beast. Then again, it only made sense. She was related to Laxus and the Master after all.

"Rio fight me!" Natsu was the first one to break free of his temporary shock.

Rio playfully splashed some water at his feet with the swing of her arm. "But I'm tired now," she whined.

"Rio's not fighting anyone!" Laxus threatened.

Natsu switched targets. "Laxus fight me!" Laxus pounded him into the sand with one fist. Natsu stopped shouting.

"Was that the same move you used against Archana?" I asked Rio.

She nodded. "But it's a lot stronger when I've got more water to work with and when I have more time to prepare. Last time I basically just chucked the canal at her. Emotion can fuel magic, but without control most of the extra magic produced by such emotions goes to waste. Efficient direction of one's emotions is the most powerful way to channel magic. That's what Mosoroth taught me anyway."

"Well whatever that was it was amazing!" I said, delighted at how far Rio had come.

"Really?" she asked, walking back on top of the water.

"Really," Laxus said. "I'm proud of you."

He must have said the right thing because Rio looked absolutely delighted to hear that from him. She smiled and stumbled a little when she reached dry land. "I think I may have overdone it a bit," she admitted sheepishly. Laxus just picked her up with one arm and we all went inside to eat. Somehow, and of course, it turned into a party.


	14. Chapter 14

-Rio POV-

The party was slightly traumatizing at first. People kept cheering loudly and raising their glasses in violent, energetic movements. I was quickly turning into a twitching mess so I was glad when Laxus decided to pull me from the seat next to him and into his lap. I snuggled closer for a moment and inhaled the smell of coffee and pine forests. Laxus was very comforting to have nearby. I knew that they threw the party for me but I wasn't really all that interested in having one. Even so, I decided I would feel guilty if I just went to sleep there so I tried to stay awake despite allowing a small yawn to escape when no one was looking. I'd overextended myself slightly with my magic earlier and I was pretty tired.

That's not to say the celebrations of Fairy Tail were the kind of party a normal person could fall asleep at. The room was filled with noise and people and drinks and the occasional projectile flying over people's heads, or sometimes colliding with them. Apparently this was normal. Mira brought me food and I beamed at her, delighted. "Thank you!" I had to raise my voice slightly over the noise. I was out of practice at it.

Mira smiled back. "You're welcome! Tell me when you want more!" I dug in before she even left. Mashed potatoes, green beans, ham, pork, corn on the cob, cranberry sauce and some dinner rolls were spread out in front of me. I didn't know what to eat first and ended up stuffing more than one thing down my throat at the same time. I didn't choke though. If there was one thing I knew how to do properly it was eat. Laxus laughed at my appetite but he ate just as much as me, albeit with a little more restraint.

The memory snuck up on me slowly. I did manage to see it coming and tried my best to push it away but it didn't work. I went under.

* * *

-Laxus POV-

Rio and I were in the corner of the party, slightly out of the way, watching more than participating. I didn't mind. Unlike Gramps, I prefered to simply watch everyone else enjoy themselves and get slobbering drunk. But today I was mostly watching Rio. Her deep blue eyes were all lit up and she couldn't seem to decide whether to eat or watch and kept switching between the two. When we first got back she had chugged three pitchers of water. If it were anyone else I would be worried but this was Rio and she would be just fine.

Mentally, I compared Rio to how she was before, having just arrived. She sat a little straighter, not as hunched as before and looked around more often as though she was no longer afraid to accidentally meet somebody's eyes. When she smiled she did it with a little more honesty. I couldn't help but be glad about that. I'd been afraid that the attack would make her lose all her precious progress but fortunately she seemed mostly unphased. If anything Rio was more determined than ever to become strong. When I found that Archana lady, and I would, I would have to thank her before I ripped her apart. Rio's current progress was partially her responsibility. That being said she had still hurt my cousin. Nobody hurt my cousin.

Suddenly Rio frowned and put a head to her forehead, wincing slightly, brow furrowed in concentration. Was she having one of her flashbacks? Sure enough, her breathing sped up dramatically and her eyes flew wide. I growled slightly in frustration. There was nothing I could do when she got like this and I hated not being able to help her. Fortunately my instincts had eased off slightly because I knew she would be okay and that it was only temporary, but that didn't mean I was exactly happy about the situation. I hugged her closer to my chest. I just couldn't do anything to help her like this.

* * *

-Rio POV- -In Flashback-

_They'd let the light burn out again. I was used to the darkness. Used to the pain in my muscles too. Used to the cold and the dark and the pain and the silence. It was starting to feel like that was all I knew. All I'd ever known. Being here, alone. Without anyone else. I couldn't decide if it was worse that Ray wasn't here with me or better because I didn't have to see him get hurt too._

_I heard footsteps. Footsteps and cheerful humming. That was a bad sign. The only person in Valkyrie who hummed was - "Why hello, little bitch, how are you today?" Iuliae greeted in a sing-song voice. I shivered in fear but didn't say anything. "Quiet as always, hmm? Well good. I hate that squeaky little voice of yours. It grates on my ears. Whenever the big bitch uses your body and goes around talking I hate it. Oh but I don't kill her. Don't want to. You know why?" she didn't expect a response and didn't get one. It had been a long time since I'd had the guts to talk back to Iuliae and I still remembered what would happen if I did. "It's because I get so much freedom here. I can break whoever I want and nobody cares!" She let out a sound that was half hum half giggle. I shivered again. "Except for you," I could hear Iuliae frowning in the darkness. I still hadn't seen her but I knew exactly where she was standing. "You're the one thing I'm not supposed to break," I couldn't tell if she was sad or annoyed. Probably both. "And I hate it!"_

_A bright red light radiated from a magic circle on the ground as lit up the room and I heard Iuliae snap her fingers. I knew I had about a half second before - I screamed in pain. My ankle made a sickening crack and I could feel that it was suddenly facing the wrong direction. Tears rushed to my eyes from the pain and I looked away from her despite knowing she couldn't see. I accidentally let out a whimper._

_"Did that hurt, little bitch?" she asked happily, "I can do more. I can break every bone in your body one by one until you're just a pile of broken bits. The only thing protecting you from me is your bitch of a mother. But one day she'll get tired of her little toy, you know. One day, you won't be so safe." Iuliae had dropped her sing song voice in favor of a threatening hiss. I was scared. "You know she never shed a tear for that brother of yours. She wouldn't cry for you either. Nobody would. You're unloved and alone. Worthless. A burden. Weak. And one of these days…"_

Thankfully the memory faded. But I still remember what happened after that. Iuliae went on to describe what she would do to me when that day came and I believed her completely and utterly. Iuliae liked hurting people. She liked breaking things. She liked breaking me. I shuddered.

"Rio, are you okay?" Laxus asked. Apparently he'd carried me to the infirmary when the flashback had hit. I was grateful. I wasn't always the calmest after something like that and I didn't want to cause a scene and ruin the party for everybody. "You were gone for a while there." He was looking at me with so much concern.

I felt my lower lip tremble and bit it, trying to hold back the tears. It didn't work.

* * *

-Laxus POV-

Rio burst into tears at the same moment she lunged into my chest. If she weren't so small she would have knocked the wind out of me but she didn't. "Hey, hey," I told her, "It's okay. You're okay now. I've got you. Nobody's going to hurt you anymore. It's okay." I stroked Rio's back until she had mostly calmed down. "Do you want to talk about it? Because you don't have to."

Rio didn't answer right away and when she did she didn't remove her face from my shirt so her words were slightly muffled. "If I died would you cry for me?" she asked.

It was something of a punch to the stomach. Would I cry? "Rio, if you died there wouldn't be a dry eye in Fairy Tail. And when I was done crying I would charge out after whoever hurt you. But that's not going to happen, okay? I'm not going to let you get hurt."

"But doesn't that make me a burden?" She kept forgetting I had dragon hearing too.

"You are not a burden. You're my cousin. I love you and so does everyone else at Fairy Tail. I'm not going to let you be alone ever again, you understand me?"

It took Rio a long time to cry herself out after that. Eventually though she fell asleep. I stayed there for a while. Rio always looked so peaceful in her sleep, like there was a thing bothering her and she hadn't a care in the world. It felt good to be trusted like that. I'd made my mistakes and I was determined not to make any with Rio. She was too precious to me. And too easily broken.

Gramps opened the door and closed it quietly behind him. I noticed the party sounded like it was dying down now and I was glad. I didn't want Rio waking up too soon. "How is she?" he asked.

"She's doing better than I would have expected but still not great," I reported. "She had another flashback but this one didn't seem too bad, judging by her reaction."

"Did she say what happened?" Gramps asked concerned. I knew he was dreading an answer. It was his granddaughter after all. And it was his daughter too.

"I asked," I agreed, "but she didn't say much. She wanted to know if we would cry for her if she died." Gramps looked like his heart was breaking. It briefly crossed my mind to tell him about my other cousin, Rio's brother, but I thought better of it. Gramps didn't need any more bad news just yet. He had it hard enough as it was. "You've contacted Porlyusica, right?" I asked, partly just to change the subject but mostly because I was actually concerned for Rio's brain if this kept up much longer.

"Yes actually, I did," Gramps said, clearly accepting the change of topic. It was easy to forget how hard all this was on him because I was so worried about Rio. "She refused to come anywhere near the town of course. She said if it wasn't life threatening then she wasn't going to do anything about it unless we brought the girl to her."

"Well that's not much of a surprise," I agreed. She had said something similar when it came time to fix Erza's eye, back when she had first arrived. It was strange how much I remembered about the guild, come to think of it. "Porlyusica isn't the friendliest person in the world but if anyone can help Rio with these flashbacks then it's her. We'll have to make a trip. The sooner the better."

"My thinking exactly. I told her to expect her tomorrow," Gramps said.

"I'm coming too," I said suddenly before immediately lowering my voice so Rio could keep sleeping.. "There's no way I'm letting Rio out of my sight," I said, "especially with what just happened. Valkyrie knows where she is now. If Rio's going to be in danger even a little bit then I'm going to be right there. We'll visit Porlyusica together."

Gramps smiled. "You've grown attached to her very quickly," he said, "I'm glad. I think you two will be a good influence on each other."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked. A good influence?

Gramps smiled broader. "Nothing. Should I bring you some food since you're currently pinned here or did you eat enough at the party?" he offered.

"Food. Definitely." Did he even need to ask?

* * *

-Iuliae POV- -Just a Short Distance from Valkyrie Headquarters-

"Archana," I greeted cheerfully, "You wouldn't happen to have a good explanation as to why you're half dead and back without the Lady's little bitch, would you?"

The spider mage coughed slightly. There was blood suddenly staining her dark green dress. It was unsightly to bleed. It was unnecessary. "She got away," Archana spat angrily.

"Yes, I can see that but why are you here?" I pressed on, "You didn't think it would be okay to return empty handed, now did you?"

Archana narrowed her eyes at me, leaning heavily on a nearby tree to brave herself. She obviously wasn't in good shape. Just by looking at her I knew she was in pain, suffering from multiple broken ribs. I didn't like breaking ribs. It wasn't dramatic. People's limbs could contort so beautifully but a broken rib just made them hunch slightly. Not satisfying in the least. "I will try again, I just need to heal first. Step aside, Iuliae."

"Hmm~~," I pretended to think about it for a moment. "No, I don't think I will." I snapped my fingers. When all of her fingers bent themselves backwards, Archana screamed beautifully, way deep in her lungs and completely unrestrained.

She collapsed. "You BITCH!" she spat. I snapped my fingers again and she cried out as both her ankles twisted a full three hundred and sixty degrees, tearing flesh internally as well as bone.

"Now, now, is that any way to speak to your only hope of salvation?" I teased lightly. She spat at my feet but missed terribly. Her jaw went next, leaping out of its socket as I cracked it into several pieces. "You're really not getting the idea here," I laughed, "you have to beg! Come on, beg!" I broke one shin then the other. "Beg if you want to live!" I giggled. It was just too fun to be breaking someone who considered herself so strong. Archand made unfortunate gurgling noises. I sighed discontentedly. "You're not being any fun anymore~! You can't even scream properly," I complained. Archana shot me a look that said it was my own fault. At least that's what I think it was meant to say. It mostly looked like 'owie, pain' to me. "You're such a bore, Archana. You and your little spiders. They're just bugs. And you're just a worm. Wriggling about in the dirt. Just like you ought to be," I smiled contentedly and spun on one heel. "Goodbye, Worm! Enjoy dying!"


End file.
